India National Cricket Team’s big batsmen Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma shared a warm hug during the third and final T20I of the home series against Ibrahim Zadran-led Afghanistan National Cricket Team at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday, January 17. .
Indian National Cricket Team won the toss and elected to bat first in the dead rubber T20I. Rohit Sharma, while speaking at the toss, stated that they wanted to bat first because they bowled first in the first two matches and his decision had nothing to do with the surface of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
The decision to bat first did not favor the team as India were reduced to 4-22 with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson back in the hut. India looked down and out and one more wicket would have taken them out of the game.
However, captain Rohit Sharma and pinch-hitter Rinku Singh didn’t let that happen and built a great partnership. They batted cautiously before destroying Afghanistan’s bowling unit. They added 190* runs to help India post 212/4 on the board.
Chasing the target, Gulbadin Naib, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Mohammad Nabi showed a batting masterclass and helped their team level the score.
Afghanistan were also expecting Najibullah Zadran to fire with the bat and get involved in their run chase but he failed to make any significant contribution and was dismissed for 5 runs off 3 balls.
He was dismissed when Virat Kohli took an excellent catch in the 19th over. Pacer Avesh Khan bowled a full wide delivery and Najibullah tried to get his hands on the drive. He got a lot of height and little distance. Virat Kohli ran a long way to his right from long range, kept his eyes on the ball throughout and pulled off a brilliant two-handed catch. After taking the catch, Virat Kohli shared a warm hug with captain Rohit Sharma and the moment went viral on the internet.
As an all-rounder, you always want to be the player of the series – Shivam Dube
Shivam Dube was awarded Player of the Series for the contribution of 124 runs and 2 wickets in 3 games of the series against Afghanistan. Speaking after the match, he said that he feels good about achieving something new in life.
“As an all-rounder, you always want to be the Player of the Series, and this is something new I achieved in my life and it feels really good. We scored a lot of runs on this pitch and thought we would win before the super was over, but that’s cricket and congratulations to both teams. “There are a lot of things I want to improve, especially in my bowling and I am trying to improve with each passing game.”
Talking more about the third T20I between India and Afghanistan, the teams played two exciting Super Overs to finally decide the winner, which was India. Ravi Bishnoi bowled the last over of the match and the young spinner did a fantastic job of picking two wickets.
Watch – Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Share Llovely hug