Rashid Khan 3, Afghanistan 0: India humiliate one-man army
India’s dominant victory over Afghanistan, led by Rashid Khan, highlights a lopsided contest in cricket as India defeats the one-man army, Rashid Khan, with ease in a 3-0 series sweep.
As India’s bowlers feasted on Afghanistan like ravenous vultures, a mist of despondency shrouded the dugout. The 47-run loss seemed uncannily like a movie they had seen countless times: although Afghanistan showed moments of brilliance and kindled the beginnings of an upset, they ultimately crumbled in the face of their longtime foe. India has prevailed in all eight of their prior meetings; the ninth match followed the same pattern.
This served as a sobering reminder that Afghanistan still possesses certain characteristics of an associate nation: they are unable to capitalise on opportunities, they place an undue reliance on celebrities like Rashid Khan, and they lack a backup plan in the event of a setback. They had India at 11/1; if Naveen-ul-Haq hadn’t allowed a Rishabh Pant catch to pierce his hands and strike his chest, they might have been 39/2.
The game would be set by the counterattack that the reinvigorated Pant had just started. In terms of runs, the decline was inexpensive. He was the next to go. However, the batters who came after him were adept at leading India to an unbeatable total. Furthermore, Afghanistan’s bowlers were unsure of the precise strategy to employ in order to prevent India’s batsmen from having an iron hold on the game.
With the exception of the flawless Rashid, who used leg-breaks to ensnare Pant, Virat Kohli, and Shivam Dube to keep his team in the match, the other players lacked the cunning to prevent a bunch of batters who were getting an invincible advantage every time they played.
The legendary grit and gumption of Afghanistan collapsed under a clinical attack. The more accomplished and seasoned batters from India stumbled and fell flat on their faces, lamenting their terrible luck in having Suryakumar pick them on this particular day to resurrect his most brutal blow.
They appeared to be sleepwalking the entire time he batted, which was only 28 balls and 51 minutes, though it would look longer and could stay longer in their minds.
That’s the fantasy that Suryakumar’s batting may create. To make sure everything is genuine and not only in their heads, the audience twitches their eyes and pinches their skin. The only difference between reality and Suryakumar’s state of mind is that when he imagines a shot that other batters wouldn’t see, his brain sends a command to his limbs, which then twist and contort into strange shapes to fulfil his request. It’s not a video game shotgun; rather, it’s the result of a very creative batsman also being a very skilled one. A batsman from the future, a batting alien in the body of a human—it’s even a step in the evolution of T20s batting.
His ability to alter audience perceptions is his greatest talent. The pitch appeared leisurely and uninteresting up until he started to unpack his tools. It took on a completely distinct set of features when he batted. The outfield picked up speed, the ball was hitting the bat wonderfully, the ground started to appear small, and the audience in the seats appeared twice as dense as it actually was.
This is actually a criticism that need to be remembered for his outstanding sweeping. Not many have a wider sweeping range than him. It doesn’t matter where you bowl or how you bowl when he’s in the mood. With the ball flowing into his body, he would pin it on the off-stump, flat-bat, frequently in front of the square, and if it was wider, he would flay through midwicket, much like he did with Rashid Khan, the best bowler in Afghanistan that day.
Just 26 runs were given up by the leg-spinner, 16 of which came from Suryakumar’s bat. only six balls. Yadav’s body assumes strange shapes, akin to that of a flexible gymnast. When he moved his right leg squarely across his stumps, he squatted to get beneath the ball and flapped Azmatullah Omarzai through square leg, giving the impression of someone getting ready to mount a horse.
These are merely pranks. The two straight-batted sixes of Azmatullah and Fazalhaq Farooqi were the real things. Soon after, the bowler from Afghanistan avenged himself, but by then, it appeared that the match had escaped their control. In seven overs, he found India at 54 for 2, and in seventeen overs, he left them at 150 for 5.
Hardik Pandya’s touch was good news for India. The most important batsman in the lower middle order, his batting seemed to be fading during the past fifteen months. However, he was back to his devastating best, displaying precise stroke play in his 24-ball-32. His two sixes were classic Pandya, with a smooth batswing and powerful tremor. The most impressive, however, was a drive off Rashid past a cover point while turning against the turn.
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