Images from the first T20 International between India and Afghanistan at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, in Mohali on Thursday.
Shivam Dube smashed an entertaining half-century to power India to an emphatic six-wicket win over Afghanistan in the first T20 International in Mohali on Thursday.
A lively 68-run partnership off 43 balls between the seasoned Mohammad Nabi (42 off 27) and youthful Azmatullah Omarzai (29 off 22) lifted Afghanistan to 158/5.
India rallied after a couple of early wickets to overhaul the target comfortably in 17.3 overs.
Dube (60 not out from 40 balls), playing his first T20 since the Asian Games, and Tilak Varma (26 off 22) shared a 44-run stand off 29 balls to give Indian innings momentum after losing the openers inside four overs.
Rohit Sharma, back in India's T20 team after 14 months, and Shubman Gill (23) got involved in an avoidable mix-up that saw the captain run out for a duck. The usually calm and cool Rohit did not hide his anger on this occasion as Gill did not pay heed to his call for a quick single.
Gill was not able to stay for long but Varma and Dube were able to take the innings forward and India did not look back from there on.
Dube, who is seen as a back-up to injury prone Hardik Pandya, used his long levers efficiently and his disdainful drives on the off side stood out. He ended the game in style with a straight six and four in the fine leg region.
Jitesh Sharma (31 off 20) also gave a good account of himself before Rinku Singh (16 not out off 9) joined Dube in the middle and took the team home.
Earlier, India bounced back after the shocking dismissal of captain Rohit Sharma, who was run out for a duck in the first over.
India were dealt blow early in the run chase when captain Rohit Sharma was run out for a duck. Shubman Gill stroked a quickfire 23 from 12 balls before he was stumped off Mujeeb Ur Rahman as he came down the track and attempted to heave the spinner across the line over midwicket.
Azmatullah Omarzai dismissed Tilak Varma for 26 as India were reduced to 83/3 in 10 overs at the halfway stage.
Shivam Dube, promoted to No 4, took no time to get going with a few boundaries early on.
Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar picked up two wickets as India's bowlers did well to restrict Afghanistan to 158/5.
Veteran Mohammad Nabi rallied Afghanistan with a few lusty blows at the end as he top-scored with a quickfire 42 from 27 balls.
Put into bat, Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran (25 off 22 balls) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 off 28) put 50 runs in eight overs for the opening wicket but could not force the pace against some disciplined bowling by India's pacers.
A stroke-filled partnership between Nabi (42 off 27) and Omarzai (29 off 22) was just what Afghanistan needed after India reduced the visitors to 57/3 in 10 overs amid chilly conditions in Mohali.
Openers Rahamanullah Gurbaz (23 off 28) and skipper Ibrahim Zadran (25 off 22) could only find four boundaries in the Powerplay.
The start of the game was delayed by a few minutes as a flickering blue light around the sightscreen distracted Gurbaz.
Pacer Arshdeep Singh opened the innings with a maiden before the spinners got into the game as early as the fourth over.
Axar Patel, who ended up as the stand out bowler for India had Gurbaz stumped with a fast and straight delivery after the opener slog swept him for a six.
Zadran was the next to depart as he smashed an innocuous ball from Shivam Dube straight to India skipper Rohit Sharma at cover. It was only the second ball of his opening spell.
Rahmat Shah, making his T20 debut after playing 106 ODIs for Afghanistan, chopped on to stumps a flatter one from Axar.
Afghanistan badly needed a move on and that came via the experience of Nabi and Omarzai, who had impressed with his all-round abilities in the ODI World Cup in India.
While the top-order struggled to rotate strike, Omarzai and Nabi showed their teammates how to build a T20 innings.
Both targeted Ravi Bishnoi and Mukesh Kumar in the middle overs.
Nabi's back to back sixes off Mukesh stood out in his quickfire knock. He first made room to smash him over extra cover and waited still for the second ball to dispatch it over mid-wicket.
Najibullah Zadran (19 not out off 11) and Karim Janat (9 not out off 5) took the total past 150.
India dropped three catches in the biting cold of Mohali. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was unavailable for selection due to a sore right groin.
