The Unlikely Underdogs: Afghanistan's Cricket Challenge Against India

Afghanistan and India have faced off in a variety of sports, including football, cricket, and the Olympic games. In football, India beat Afghanistan 2-1 in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers. In cricket, India has won most of its matches against Afghanistan, but Afghanistan has shown potential by taking India to a second super over in a 2024 T20 match. In the 2023 Cricket World Cup, India beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets.

Cricket World Cup 2023

The 2023 Cricket World Cup was hosted by India from 5 October to 19 November 2023. The tournament was contested by ten national teams, with India and Australia beating New Zealand and South Africa respectively to advance to the final. The final was played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where Australia beat India by 6 wickets to win their sixth Cricket World Cup title.

The Cricket World Cup was originally scheduled to take place from 9 February to 26 March 2023 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament was eventually held from 5 October to 19 November 2023, with matches taking place across ten venues in India.

The Indian cricket team secured a place in the final for the fourth time, having won in 1983 and 2011 and lost in 2003. Australia qualified for the final for the eighth time, having won five and lost two. The final was played between host nation India and Australia, marking the second time these two teams met in a World Cup final, the first being in 2003.

The Indian cricket team was led by captain Rohit Sharma, who scored 131 to help India win their match against Afghanistan by 8 wickets. Virat Kohli surpassed Sachin Tendulkar's record for most runs in ODI and T20 World Cups during their match against Afghanistan in Delhi.

The Cricket World Cup final was watched by 300 million people on TV, with a peak concurrence of 130 million, making it the most-watched cricket match on TV. Disney+Hotstar recorded a viewership of 59 million concurrent viewers, the most for any live sporting event on an OTT platform. The final was also the most-watched ICC match ever, with a global live viewing time of 87.6 billion minutes.

T20 Internationals

Afghanistan has been defeated by India in all three T20 Internationals in 2024. The first match was held on January 11, 2024, in Mohali, where India beat Afghanistan by six wickets. The second match was held on January 14, 2024, in Indore, where India beat Afghanistan by six wickets again. The third match was held on January 17, 2024, in Bengaluru, where India beat Afghanistan in a second Super Over to win the T20 series 3-0.

The first match was the first T20I for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma since India's semi-final loss to England in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in November 2022. They were named in India's 16-member squad for the three-match series against Afghanistan. Rohit Sharma took over as India's T20 captain for the series.

In the first match, India restricted Afghanistan to 158 for five and then returned to overhaul the target in 17.3 overs. Shivam Dube anchored the chase with an unbeaten 40-ball 60, while Jitesh Sharma (31), Tilak Verma (26) and Shubman Gill (23) also contributed. Axar Patel was the most successful bowler for India, with figures of 2/23, while Mukesh Kumar bagged 2/33. Mohammad Nabi was the top scorer for Afghanistan, scoring 42 off 27 balls.

In the second match, Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh put on a 190-run stand to take India to 212/4. Afghanistan levelled the scores off the last ball, taking the game into a super over. In the super over, Afghanistan scored 16/1, with India scoring 15/2, leading to another super over. In the second super over, India scored 11/2, while Afghanistan scored 1/2, leading to India winning the match and the series.

In the third match, Rohit Sharma became the first cricketer to score five T20 international centuries. He and Rinku Singh also equalled the record for most runs scored off a single over in T20 internationals, plundering 36 runs off Karim Janat's final over. Afghanistan scored 212/6 in 20 overs, with Gulbadin Naib scoring 55 off 23 deliveries, while Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran also scored fifties. India scored 212/4 (20.0) & 11/2 (0.5), while Afghanistan scored 212/6 (20.0) & 1/2 (0.3).

ODI World Cup

India and Afghanistan have faced each other in the ODI World Cup twice, with India winning on both occasions. In the 2019 World Cup, India beat Afghanistan by 11 runs. In the 2023 World Cup, India beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets.

In the 2023 World Cup match, India batted second and chased down the target of 273 runs in just 35 overs. Afghanistan had set the target after batting first and scoring 272 for 8 in 50 overs.

Skipper Rohit Sharma led the way for India with a record-breaking knock of 131 off 84 balls. This was Rohit's seventh ODI World Cup hundred, the most by any batter. It was also the fastest hundred by an Indian in the 50-over mega event, coming off just 63 balls. Rohit's innings included 16 fours and 5 sixes.

Ishan Kishan (47 off 47) and Virat Kohli (55 not out off 56) also made useful contributions as India romped home with 90 balls to spare.

Earlier, Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi's dogged 80 and Azmatullah Omarzai's gutsy 62 took Afghanistan to a competitive total. Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers for India, finishing with figures of 4 for 39 in 10 overs.

AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers

The AFC Asian Cup is the international men's football championship of Asia, organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The 2023 edition was the 18th edition of the tournament, which was hosted by Qatar and won by the hosts, who defeated Jordan 3-1 in the final.

The 2023 tournament involved 24 teams, expanded from the 16-team format used from 2004 to 2015. The qualification process involved four rounds, with the first two rounds doubling as the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification for Asian teams. The qualification structure was as follows:

First round: 12 teams (ranked 35–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.

Second round: 40 teams (ranked 1–34 and six first-round winners) were divided into eight groups of five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The eight group winners and the five best group runners-up qualified for the AFC Asian Cup (and advanced to the third round of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers).

Play-off round: The remaining 4 teams entered the play-off round to contest the remaining two spots in the third round of Asian Cup qualification.

Third round: The 24 teams were divided into six groups of four to play single round-robin matches in six centralised venues, and they competed for the remaining slots of the Asian Cup.

The 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers saw India beat Afghanistan 2-1 in their second Group D match. Indian captain Sunil Chhetri scored a brilliant free-kick, while Sahal Abdul Samad kept his composure to score the winner in stoppage time. Afghanistan's only goal came from Zubayr Amiri. With this win, India maintained second position in the Group D points table, while Afghanistan was ranked third.

Football

Afghanistan has proven to be a tricky opponent for India in football over the years. In their most recent encounter, Afghanistan beat India 2-1 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Indian captain Sunil Chhetri scored the opening goal for India in his 150th international appearance, but Afghanistan came back with two goals in the second half to secure the win.

In the first half, India dominated possession and had four shots on goal compared to Afghanistan's zero. However, Afghanistan started to control the ball better after 25 minutes of play, and the game became an end-to-end affair in the second half.

Afghanistan's first goal was an equaliser scored by Rahmat Akbari in the 70th minute due to a defensive error by India. The second goal, which sealed the win for Afghanistan, was a penalty scored by Sharif Mukhammad in the 88th minute after a mistake by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

Prior to this match, India and Afghanistan had played each other in a 2026 World Cup qualifying match in March 2024, which ended in a 0-0 draw. In another recent match, India beat Afghanistan 2-1 in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers third round. Indian captain Sunil Chhetri and Sahal Abdul Samad scored the goals for India, while Zubayr Amiri scored the only goal for Afghanistan.

While Afghanistan has managed to beat India in some of their recent encounters, India has also secured wins against Afghanistan in the past.

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