Asia Cup 2018, India vs Afghanistan- Feeling Proud to Play Such an Innings - Mohammad Shahzad

It turned out to be an exciting Super Four match in Dubai, as Afghanistan held on to a thrilling tie against India to finish the Asia Cup 2018 on a high.

However, it was a great performance by Afghanistan, and they should be proud of the way they made a comeback in the bowling department. After a great knock from Mohammad Shahzad, it was upto the bowlers to defend the target.

However, it wasn’t possible, as India lost a cluster of wickets in the middle overs. In the end, it was a great final over from Rashid Khan which handed Afghanistan a tie to savour for the rest of their life.

After batting first, Afghanistan posted a competitive score of 252 runs on the board. It was a one-man show until the 34^th over, as Mohammad Shahzad plundered the Indian 2^nd string bowling attack to all parts of the Dubai International Stadium. It was a sensational knock from the heavily built opening batsman. His knock of 124 came in just 116 deliveries and was studded with 11 fours and seven sixes.

Right from the word go, Shahzad looked in immaculate form and struck the big shots with disdain. However, he had to slow down quite a bit, as the innings progressed because of the cluster of wickets which fell in the middle overs. However, Shahzad kept going and ensured the run rate never went down 4.50.

His knock finally came to an end when he mistimed a Kedar Jadhav delivery. From there on, Mohammad Nabi took the onus on himself to finish the job well for Afghanistan. He struck a brilliant half-century. The Indians came back strongly in the final 2-3 overs to restrict Afghanistan to 252.

However, the Men in Blue began quite brilliantly with an opening partnership of 110 runs between Ambati Rayudu and KL Rahul.

India was halted in the middle overs by the Afghanistan bowlers

They carried on from where they left in the Indian Premier League. Both looked in command of proceedings and struck some beautiful shots to get going. Rayudu, in particular, looked in imperious touch. He raced to 57 off 49 deliveries which included four fours and four sixes. Rahul, on the other hand, also looked in exquisite touch and scored 60 off 66 deliveries which included five fours and a six.

It was in the middle overs that India lost the plot and kept losing wickets on a consistent basis. Some of the umpiring decisions by Gregory Brathwaite was simply howlers. However, India had themselves to blame for it, as they wasted the review with KL Rahul’s dismissal. Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni fell to poor umpiring decisions.

In the end, the match ended in a tie, as Ravindra Jadeja couldn’t get India over the line after playing a bad shot of a short delivery from Rashid Khan. It would be a big moment for the Afghan boys to tie a match against the No two ranked side in ODI cricket at the moment.

Here is what Man of the Match Mohammad Shehzad said at the post-match presentation,

“I’m not very happy, we have slogged for 6 hours at the ground without result, but I am happy with the performance of the team. We have a flight tomorrow, so I thought of playing my game freely. I am feeling proud because I have played an innings like this against the best side in Asia. I haven’t played well throughout the tournament, but I am happy that I played well in this one.”