Match number 9 was played between India and Afghanistan at Virat Kohli’s home ground, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. Virat Kohli would have been as excited as the fans as he was about to play an ODI game after a long period of time. Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat first. India was playing without Shubman Gill as the right-handed opening batsman was not fully recovered from Dengue.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran came out to bat against in form Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj. Both the batsmen showed a good batting display in the first few overs, but soon Jasprit Bumrah sent Ibrahim Zadran back to the pavilion for 22 runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was also looking in fine touch, but his inning was ended by Hardik Pandya. He scored 21 runs in 28 balls with the help of 3 fours and a six. In the very next over, Rehmat Shah was given LBW (Leg Before Wicket) by Shardul Thakur. At this stage, Afghanistan was at 63/3 in 13.1 overs.
Azmatullah Omarzai then joined the skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi, and the pair went on to score some runs as they built a crucial and important partnership of 121 runs. Azmatullah Omarzai was then cleaned up by Hardik Pandya on a well-made 62 runs in 69 balls with the help of 2 fours and 4 sixes. After a few overs, Hashmatullah Shahidi was found in front of the wickets as Kuldeep Yadav bagged an important wicket for India. Small contributions from Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman helped Afghanistan to set a total of 272 runs. Jasprit Bumrah took 4 crucial wickets, whereas Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, and Shardul Thakur 2, 1, and 1 wickets, respectively.
For a side with such experienced batters, the target was not that difficult to chase, and this is what exactly what Indian batsmen showed. In the previous game, both the openers went back to the pavilion without scoring a run, but the day, opponent, wicket, and game was different. Both Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan were quick to find and grab the opportunities to score runs. For a moment, the fans and the spectators would’ve thought that is it a T20 game or what because they were literally bashing each and every bowler as per their convenience.
Meanwhile, in the 18th over of the game, Rohit Sharma completed yet another World Cup Century and completed his 31st in One Day Internationals. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan made a partnership of 156 runs in just 18.4 overs as Ishan was sent back to the pavilion by Rashid Khan. He scored 47 runs in 47 balls with the help of 5 fours and 2 sixes. It was then when Virat Kohli walked out to bat from the Virat Kohli pavilion. What a sight it was as the entire stadium was chanting Kohliii Kohliiii Kohliiii. The fans were now waiting for Kohli vs Naveen as it became the most awaited battle since the previous edition of IPL where the boys got into a verbal spat that elevated on some level as coaches and other players got involved in it.
Though Naveen couldn’t be able to take Virat’s wicket, but Virat yet again won the hearts of millions of cricket fans. In 2019, he asked the crowd to not boo Steve Smith who just came back to play cricket after a Ban due to Sandpaper Gate Incident against South Africa. In this match, the crowd was again mocking Naveen Ul Haq when Kohli again stepped in and asked the fans to applaud and cheer and not to boo. Rohit Sharma was playing an inning of his life when Rashid Khan stopped him to proceed further. He got bowled on 131 runs after playing just 84 deliveries with the help of 16 fours and 5 sixes.
Shreyas Iyer, who was one of the players that scored a duck against Australia came to bat at number 4 and with Kohli’s masterclass, India won the game by 8 wickets with 90 balls left. Virat Kohli didn’t disappoint the fans as he smashed back-to-back fifties. It was his 68th ODI half-century. Several records got broken during the 9th game of the ICC Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 and a majority of those records were broken by none other than the HITMAN Sharma.
- Afghanistan records their highest total against India – 272 Runs
- Rohit Sharma became the fastest Indian batter to Score a World Cup Century – 63 Balls
- Most Sixes in International Cricket – 556
- Most Hundreds in ODI World Cup History – 7 hundreds
- Joint-Fastest Batter to Score 1,000 Runs in ODI World Cups – 19 Innings
- Highest Score by an Indian in an ODI World Cup Run Chase – 131 Runs
- Most Sixes by an Indian in ODI World Cup History – 28
- Oldest Captain to Score an ODI World Cup Hundred – 36 Years and 164 Days
- Most ODI World Cup Hundreds in a Successful Run Chase – 3 hundreds
- Hitting 50-Plus, International Sixes in Most Calendar Years – 4 Years (2017, 2018, 2019, and 2023)
- Virat Kohli breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s record for Scoring most runs in ICC World Cups (ODI + T20 Formats) – 2,311 Runs in 53 Innings
Also Recommended: India vs Afghanistan full scorecard
