Page 2 - India Vs Afghanistan

IND vs AFG: Trott wants bowlers to put pressure on Indians in middle overs

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott said his bowlers will have to put pressure on Indian batters in the middle-overs for them to be competitive against the home side in the third and final T20I here on Wednesday. Afghanistan are looking to score a consolation win after India won Mohali and Indore matches to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the rubber. India had scaled down targets with consummate ease in the previous two matches. "I will be looking at getting closer to a good 40 overs from us tomorrow. Being able to put some pressure on the Indian side in the middle overs with the ball would be nice. "It's something that we want to get better at if we want to compete at the World Cup (in June). So, plenty to play for at such a historic venue," said Trott in his pre-match press meet on Tuesday. Part of their struggle with the ball has its genesis in the absence of injured Rashid Khan, and Trott said Afghanistan management is giving ample time for the star spinner to recover. "It is a

IND vs AFG 3rd T20 preview: Avesh Khan, Kuldeep likely to play in Bengaluru

With the series already in the bag, India will be eager to perfect their freshly-baked T20 template as a team and hope that skipper Rohit Sharma's bat finally fires when they face Afghanistan in the third and last match of the rubber here on Wednesday. This will be India's final T20 game ahead of the World Cup in June, and the team management wouldn't want any drop in intensity that was displayed during victories at Mohali and Indore. India's identical six-wicket wins were marked by an ultra-aggressive mindset from ball one that saw them chasing down 159 in 17.3 overs and 173 in 15.4 overs respectively. It was a clear deviation from their earlier approach of building the momentum for a final flourish in T20s. None showed this intent more brightly than Shivam Dube and Virat Kohli. Kohli was playing a T20I for India after 14 months at Indore, but he creamed a 16-ball 29 at a strike rate of 181. The most noteworthy feature of his little yet significant innings was the way he handled

IND vs AFG T20: Big-hitting Jaiswal tried to punish all loose balls

Picked to replace the usually swashbuckling but currently out of form Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal made quite a statement with his 34-ball 68 against Afghanistan in the second T20I here and the promising youngster said it was all thanks to the "go out and express yourself" brief from the Indian team management. The 22-year-old's strokeful knock at the top of the order and Shivam Dube's 63 not out off 32 balls, helped India register a six-wicket series-clinching win here on Sunday as the hosts easily chased down the target of 173 with 26 balls to spare. "I have been told to go and express myself and I was trying to do that," Jaiswal said at the post-match conference on Sunday night. "I was trying to punish the loose balls, and was focused to give my team a good start...I was trying to bat as deep as I can. I was trying to keep my strike rate good. I wanted to keep batting with a good strike rate," said the 22-year-old opening batter. Jaiswal, who has played just four Tests and 16

IND vs AFG T20s: Shivam Dube calls his shot hitting range a god gift

Bonafide six-hitter Shivam Dube on Monday said his ability to play a wide range of strokes against spinners is "god's gift" but overcoming issues against express pace and bounce will require plenty of hard work. One of the biggest hitters when the spinners are in operation, Dube blazed away to scintillating fifties in the first two T20 Internationals against Afghanistan, making a fairly good spin attack look pedestrian with his power-hitting. "It's a pleasure to keep improving my performance as I am going along. The range I have is god's gift and I have also worked a lot on it. I have developed many areas of my game and I am getting the runs on the board," Dube told JioCinema. On way to his an unbeaten 63 off 32 balls in the second T20I here on Sunday, Dube smashed four towering sixes and five fours, as India chased down a target of 173 with as many as 26 balls to spare. Also grabbing the headlines with the willow was the returning Yashasvi Jaiswal, who hammered a 34-ball 68. On h

Man detained for breaching security, hugging Virat Kohli during Indore T20

A young man was detained after he defied the security arrangements and reached cricketer Virat Kohli and hugged him during the India-Afghanistan T20 match at Holkar Stadium in Madhya Pradesh's Indore on Sunday, police said. At that time, the star batsman was fielding on the ground. After detaining him, cops took the young man to Tukoganj police station. A police official said that the youth had a ticket for the match and entered the Holkar Stadium from Narendra Hirwani Gate. He said that the young man seemed to be a big Kohli fan and entered the ground by climbing the fence of the spectators' gallery with the desire to meet the player. The officer said that the youth was being interrogated. Further steps will be taken in the case on the basis of interrogation, the official said. In Indore, India beat Afghanistan by six wickets.

IND vs AFG: Players walking the talk, India ticking all boxes, feels Rohit

With the series against Afghanistan in bag, India skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday said he is happy that the players are actually walking the talk as the team ticks all the boxes ahead of the T20 World Cup. India beat Afghanistan by six wickets in the second T20I to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-game series, which is the last before the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. "We have been clear with what we wanted to do, very clear message to everyone and when you see a performance like that, you can be really proud," Rohit said during the post-match presentation. "One thing is talking about it, but to actually go there and play that way is a proud feeling. The last two games, we've ticked a lot of boxes." Yashasvi Jaiswal (68) and Shivam Dube (63) smashed brutal fifties to chase down a target of 173 with ease. "They've had a great couple of years, Jaiswal has played Test cricket now and even T20I. He has shown what he is capable of. He has the talent and has a great

IND vs AFG: Rohit records second most ducks in T20Is, social media on fire

Rohit Sharma recorded his 12th duck in T20Is, which is the second-most for any batter in the history of the format

India vs Afghanistan 2nd T20 Highlights: Dube, Jaiswal help IND win series

India vs Afghanistan Highlights, 2nd T20 International: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube hit fifties to help the Indian team chase down 173 and win the series with one game to go

IND vs AFG: Rohit Sharma becomes first player to feature in 150 T20Is

Rohit Sharma entered the elite list of players to become the first in history to play 150 matches in a format. Allan Border of Australia was the first to play 150 Tests and ODIs

India vs Afghanistan 2nd T20 Playing 11: Kohli and Jaiswal back for IND

IND vs AFG 2nd T20 Playing 11: Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal came back in the Indian playing 11 while Rahmat Shah was rested for Noor Ahmad in the Afghan playing 11

Kohli and Djokovic: How Instagram turned mutual admirers into text buddies

Virat Kohli and Novak Djokovic have been texting each other on Instagram for quite some time now. But how did the saga start? Kohli revealed it in a video. Watch it here

IND vs AFG 2nd T20 Preview: India eye series win in Indore, Kohli to return

A series win over Afghanistan is still not counted among the grandstand cricketing feats, but a clutch of players will be eager to achieve that here on Sunday in the second T20I as it can transform them into contenders from sidekicks. India had won the first game at Mohali by six wickets to take a 1-0 lead. It is then imperative for Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel to produce a defining effort against the Afghans to keep themselves within the selectors' sight as the move to find a perfect squad for the T20 World Cup has gathered steam. That India will not play another T20I series ahead of the marquee event in June increases the gravitas around their performance against Afghanistan. Jitesh has all the reasons to place himself among the frontrunners as the wicketkeeper batter has overtaken Ishan Kishan in the pecking order since replacing the latter from the fourth T20I against Australia at Raipur last year. The Maharashtra man has struck a couple of useful 30s down t

IND vs AFG: Shivam Dube credits MS Dhoni for his batting transformation

I keep speaking to Mahi bhai, and learning a lot from him; he tells me about how to tackle different situations, says Shivam Dube after India vs Afghanistan 1st T20 match

IND vs AFG: When it happens you feel frustrated - Rohit on mix up with Gill

India skipper Rohit Sharma on Thursday said the team management will consciously put the players in uncomfortable situations ahead of the T20 World Cup in June. The three-match series against Afghanistan is India's last before the T20 World Cup which is scheduled to be hosted by the United States and the West Indies in June. India won the opener by six wickets here. The game marked Rohit's comeback to the shortest format after 14 months. "We want to keep trying different things - try and bowl our bowlers in different situations of the game, like you saw today, Washi (Washington Sundar) bowled the 19th over. We want to challenge ourselves in the areas we are slightly uncomfortable with and the bowlers are not used to that. "We want to try and do that. Keeping all of those things in mind, we'll try and do whatever is possible but not at the cost of the game. We want to make sure that we come out on top and play the game well. All in all, today was a good day for us," he said at the

India vs Afghanistan 1st T20 Highlights: All-round Dube wins it for India

India vs Afghanistan Highlights, 1st T20 international: Shivam Dube's all-round show, where he hit 60 with the bat and took a wicket in two overs with the ball, helped the Men in Blue to a victory

Future opener to mental fatigue: Curious case of Kishan's place in India

Ishan Kishan was once considered someone who would replace either Rohit at the top or Kohli at number three and now, he has decided to make himself available for selection

India vs Afghanistan 1st T20 Playing 11: Jaiswal not playing in Mohali

IND vs AFG 1st T20 Playing 11: Jaiswal failed to pull up on the match day and missed the IND vs AFG 1st T20.

IND vs AFG T20s: How Team India fared with and without Rohit, Virat Kohli

When Rohit & Kohli represented India in T20s together, the overall win percentage of the team was 68.08, which is almost equal to what Men In Blue achieved during the absence of two batting mainstays

IND vs AFG 1st T20 preview: Spotlight only on Rohit after Kohli pulls out

The return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to the T20 format after 14 months will be keenly observed when India face a dangerous Afghanistan in the first ever white-ball series between the two teams, beginning here on Thursday. The three-match contest will be India's last before the T20 World Cup in June, giving the team more clarity on where it stands ahead of the ICC event in Americas. However, the final 15 will be picked on the core group's performance in the IPL, which precedes the World Cup. Rohit and Kohli, now that they are back in the T20 setup, are a certainty in that squad but the accomplished duo would first like to get the most out of the games against Afghanistan. The two India greats are also among the biggest crowd-pullers and their presence on the field would be another reason for the Mohali crowd to brave the prevailing cold wave. Rohit, who will also captain the side, will be expected to carry on with his ultra aggressive approach in the powerplay like he showed

IND vs AFG 1st T20: Rohit-Jaiswal combination to continue at opening slot

India head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed on Wednesday that the team will persist with Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal as openers in the run-up to the T20 World Cup, underlining the importance of a left-right pair at the pole position. Rohit has returned to India's T20 scheme of things for the series against Afghanistan, beginning here on Thursday, after a hiatus of 14 months. His previous appearance was in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal against England at Adelaide. Jaiswal has been opening in the shortest format since the away series against the West Indies in August last year. "As of now, we will be opening with Rohit and Jaiswal. When you have a squad that offers flexibility, we can take a call that is in the best interest of the team," Dravid said on the eve of the match. "We are certainly happy with what Jaiswal has done for us as an opener. It also gives us the left-right combination at the top," added Dravid. However, that will leave the question on how to find a place f