Gutsy Afghanistan expose India's middle order, pull off nail-biting tie

Needing seven off the final over, India had the match almost in the bag when Ravindra Jadeja (25 off 34) hit a four on the second ball. A couple of singles followed with India needing a run off two balls for a win. Jadeja, however, ended up scooping the ball for a regulation catch at midwicket, cutting short India's joy and sending Afghanistan players into ecstasy.

There were stunned faces in the Indian dressing room. Shikhar Dhawan and Kuldeep Yadav could not believe their eyes. KL Rahul was shattered. In the middle, Afghanistan’s Najibullah Zadran started a never-ending run after taking the most decisive catch of his career, the bowler Rashid Khan had a million dollar smile. The batsman Ravindra Jadeja, who knew for sure that he would take India over the line, stood motionless. The India-Afghanistan Asia Cup Super 4 match ended in a tie.

Jadeja was calm and collective till that pull he mistimed. He appeared like a left-handed MS Dhoni, in complete command of his every move even as wickets tumbled at the other end and he only had No. 11 Khaleel for company. India needed 7 runs in the final over, Jadeja rejected the single off the first ball and then played a slog sweep that almost went for six (majority believed it did but the third umpire didn’t). Jadeja then took a single to bring it down to 2 off 3. Playing his first ball in international cricket, Khaleel somehow managed to give the strike back to his senior partner.

Jadeja, inches away from glory, went for the heave but did not get all of it and the genius of Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan came to fore as he kept just one fielder out just in case. Jadeja found that fielder and with that Afghanistan earned their biggest achievement in their little but promising international tenure – a thrilling tie against India.

India made five changes going into the Afghanistan match, two of them in the batting department, which gave the opportunity to a middle-order batsman to open the innings and pushed two other middle-order batsmen higher up the order. But nothing really changed. They yet again got off to the best possible start but struggled once the openers were dismissed, so much so that it was left to Jadeja and the tail to get India over the line.

For starters, they really did not miss their openers, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. At least till the first half of their chase. If anything, KL Rahul and Ambati Rayudu made a solid case for themselves as backup options by stitching a 110-run stand in 17 overs. Rahul definitely was the third opener, there was a never a questionaabout that, he only sent a quite “Hello I’m still there” reminder to the team management while Ambati Rayudu proved that the flying starts he gave CSK during the IPL were not a flash in the pan.  

The problem for India began when both of them got out in quick succession immediately after reaching their half-centuries. Rayudu had not yet put a foot wrong in the 48 balls he had faced, perhaps that pegged him to try to clear the fence for the fifth time in his innings. He charged Nabi, just like he had been doing to the seamers, connected, got the elevation but not the distance. Nabi’s ability to just hold the ball back was the key here. Rayudu was holed out at long-on for 54.

Rahul was beautifully worked out by Rashid Khan. Rahul resisted for the first two overs but just like Rayudu, could not deny his free-flowing spirit for long and went for an audacious reverse sweep after being tied down by Rashid googlies and flippers. It struck him in line and the umpire had no hesitation in giving him out. That wicket and the review that went against India opened the floodgates.

Karthik and Dhoni absorbed the pressure for some time but it was too much. The Afghanistan spin trio of Rashid, Mujeeb and Nabi were all over them. In between all this, Javed Ahmadi, a part-time off-spinner at best trapped Dhoni in front, who returned as India captain after a gap of 696 days. It wasn’t exactly in front though as replays suggested it would have gone down the leg side but India had no reviews left.

India’s famous or rather infamous middle-order woes were exposed like never before. Manish Pandey, coming into the match with six unbeaten knocks to his name managed only 8 runs off 15 balls before nicking it to keeper Shahzad.

India were reduced to 160 for 4 with Karthik searching for a partner. Despite the wickets, the asking rate never got out of control, thanks to the start India had got. Karthik did find a partner in Jadhav but the latter fell prey to an unfortunate run out for 19. Karthik (44) soon followed after missing a straight one from Nabi, replays again showed it was going down but then again, no reviews were there. It is hard to pinpoint a turning point of the match but that Karthik dismissal really made Afghanistan believe they could win this.

Needing 46 off 60 balls, Jadeja did his best to bat along with the tail but could finish off the game.

Earlier, it seemed the unconventional Shahzad was batting on a different surface as the others struggled, hammering 11 fours and as many as seven sixes on his way to 124 off 116. The experienced Mohammad Nabi produced a handy knock, 64 off 56 balls, towards the end ensuring a competitive total of 252 for 8 for his team.