The first match of the Super 8 phase of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Group 1 saw the clash between Rohit Sharma-led India National Cricket Team and Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan National Cricket Team at the Kensington Oval , Bridgetown in Barbados on Thursday, June 20. .
The Indian team put up a great performance in the match to register a comprehensive 47-run victory. With the bat, Suryakumar Yadav (53) and Hardik Pandya (32) shined and helped the team score 181/8 on the board. When it came to defending the total, Jasprit Bumrah (3), Arshdeep Singh (3), Kuldeep Yadav (2), Axar Patel (1) and Ravindra Jadeja (1) did a good job and bowled out the opposing team for 134 runs. .
Speaking after the match, Rohit Sharma highlighted that the Indian team has played quite a few matches in the Caribbean in the last few years, which has helped them prepare well. He stated:
“The last two years we came here and played a few T20 games. We planned a bit well. We adapted well to the conditions that were offered. We knew the class of our bowling line-up would defend this.”
Next, Rohit Sharma praised his teammates, saying that everyone is doing a brilliant job and also gave special shout outs to Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya. He stated:
“Everyone comes and does their job. That’s something we keep talking about. Surya and Hardik’s partnership was good in the end.”
While talking about Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian captain said that they need to use the pacer wisely as he is a game-changer. Rohit Sharma said:
“We know what Bumrah can do for us. It is important for us to use him intelligently. He is the one who is ready to take responsibility. Wherever he plays, he is always ready to take responsibility. I have to evaluate the conditions. “As for the opposition, we are ready to make any changes. “We thought three spinners would be good, going forward, if required, I am open to playing with three seamers.”
Head-to-head record between India and Afghanistan
The Indian national cricket team has been a team that has always dominated the Afghanistan national cricket team and the record speaks for itself. Before their T20 World Cup 2024 match, they played 13 matches against each other across all formats, and in all those matches the results were in favor of India.
Talking about the T20Is, India and Afghanistan had faced each other a total of eight times, since their first meeting in the 2010 T20 World Cup at Grost Islet.
Of those matches, the Men in Blue successfully won 7 games, including a victory in the double Super Over in January 2024, while one game between the teams was eliminated. The match that was abandoned was the final of the Hangzhou Asian Games last year and in the failure, India walked away with a gold medal thanks to a higher ranking.
As far as ODI is concerned, Afghanistan played India four times and never won any game, while in Test cricket, Asian teams played only one game in which India handed them a heavy defeat of an innings and 262 runs to Afghanistan.
Now, after the conclusion of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 clash between the teams, the head-to-head record in T20Is is India 8 – Afghanistan 0, and in international cricket, it is India 14 – Afghanistan 0.
