India vs Afghanistan Highlights, ODI World Cup 2023: Rohit, Kohli Star As India Hammer Afghanistan By 8 Wickets

Virat Kohli strikes it down the ground as India complete the chase of 273 in just 35 overs. Kohli completed his 68th half century in process. India beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets. 

With just 18 runs left in the target, India are on their way to achieve a big win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Aghanistan bowlers have been annihilated by the onslaught of Indian batters.

Finally, the biggest wicket of the match goes to Rashid Khan. Rohit Sharma tried to play a sweep but to no avail. He departs for 131(84). Shreyas Iyer joins the crease now with Virat Kohli.

Ishan Kishan departs as Rashid Khan makes a breakthrough that was much needed. Virat Kohli walks in to bat at number 3. IND 156/1 (18.4)

A fine knock by the Indian captain Rohit Sharma. He reaches hundred in just 63 deliveries. India are just unstoppable in this innings. IND 154/0 (18)

Ishan Kishan is now finding his feet in the innings. This is getting from bad to worse for Afghanistan. They need a wicket soon. 

Rohit Sharma reaches fifty in just 30 balls. He is taking Afghanistan's new ball attack to cleaners. Naveen, Farooqi are absolutely clueless here in Delhi. IND 75/0 (8)

Rohit Sharma is off to a terrific start in chase. Ishan Kishan is playing the waiting game at the moment. Naveen-ul-Haq has been brought into the attack. 

Two runs off the first over. Fazalhaq Farooqi was very much on point with his deliveries. Mujeeb-ur-Rahman to bowl the 2nd over. 

Afghanistan have finished their innings on 272/8 after 50 overs. They will be pleased with the way things have gone in this innings. Indian batting will be tested for sure.

Najibullah falls as Afghanistan continue to lose wickets at fag end of innings. Rashid Khan is the new batter in. Indian Team is aware what he can do with the bat. OUT! Mohammed Nabi departs as well

Hashmatullah Shahidi departs after a brilliant 88-ball 80. Kuldeep Yadav has his first wicket. Now, it is upto the lower-middle order of Afghanistan to take it forward. AFG 225/5 (42.4)

With 9 overs left in Afghanistan's innings, both batters Hashmatullah Shahidi and Mohammed Nabi will look to accelerate their way from here. 

What a delivery from Hardik Pandya. He picks up another wicket as Azmatullah Omerzai departs after a well played knock. AFG 184/4 (34.3)

Azmatullah Omerzai has brought up his fifty and is also looking solid at the moment. 100-run partnership also comes up for the 4th wicket. 50 for captain Hashmatullah Shahidi as well. AFG 173/3 (33)

Bumrah has been brought back into the attack. Can he remove one of these players for a breakthrough. Stay tuned for live updates!

Both Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omerzai have got a tough opportunity on their hands. Indian spinners won't give them easy singles. 

Lord Shardul Thakur has arrived. First a brillant catch, and now he has followed it up with a beautiful inswinger. Rahmat Shah goes for 16.

AFG: 63-3 (13.1)

Incredible catch by Shardul Thakur near the boundary rope, and Gurbaz departs after a promising start. Hardik Pandya, the birthday boy claims his first wicket of the match.

Afghanistan has had a solid start in the first 10 overs. Gurbaz appears settled on the pitch and played a powerful six off Thakur's short-pitched delivery. It remains to be seen when India will introduce spinners into the game.

AFG: 48-1 (10) 

Finally! trap has worked for Bumrah in the seventh over as he gets an edge off Zadran's bat on the out-swinging ball. Zadran falls on 22. Rahmat Shah joins Gurbaz in the middle.

AFG 32/1 (7) 

India lose their one review early in the innings after the umpire did not give Ibrahim Zadran out on Siraj's in-swinging ball hitting the opener's pad. In the replay, the ball was missing the stumps and the umpire's decision stands corrected.

AFG 18/0 (4)

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj started bowling for India with the new ball. Bumrah started with the maiden over with a wide while Siraj leaked five runs in his opening over.

AFG 6/0 (2) 

It looks a belter, looks a fabulous wicket, reckons Gambhir. The average first innings total is 230 at this venue, but South Africa got 428 against Sri Lanka. Sanjay Manjrekar thinks 350 should be a par score. Going to be tough for off spinners given these dimensions. If India bat first they should get 350, given the size of the boundaries, adds Gambhir.

"We will bat first. It looks like a good batting surface. We have a good bowling attack to restrict them. It looks like a good surface, we want to bounce back with the bat. We are enjoying, good chance to showcase our talent. We are going with the same team," Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said at the toss.

"We were looking to bat second. We saw the amount of dew last evening. Don't think the wicket will change much. Need to bowl well and need to come back and bat better. We were under pressure (against Australia) to start with, but KL and Kohli batted well, they were magnificent and we take a lot of pride in our performance. It was a good game for us, hopefully we can repeat that and keep the momentum going forward. Ashwin misses out, Shardul Thakur comes in for him," Rohit Sharma said at the toss.

Afghanistan have won the toss and opted to bat first against India at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

Hello from Delhi

It's almost time for #TeamIndia's second match of #CWC23 as they take on Afghanistan #MeninBlue | #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/loJHB9Fgwf, — BCCI (@BCCI) October 11, 2023

Mohammed Shami who claimed a hat-trick in this very fixture four years ago could be an option. But India will need to consider the trade-off between his inclusion and maintaining their batting depth.

India probable 11: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishan Kishan.

Afghanistan probable 11: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

"You know, we play better spin in the nets sessions. Rashid, Nabi, Noor and Mujeeb, we play them every day. So, I think our team is far better in playing spin bowling. So that game [vs Bangladesh] we struggled but you can't say that you are not good enough [based] on one game," Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said on the eve of match against India.

At Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium, spinners are predicted to dominate because the surface is known for being dry. The ground has witnessed multiple high-scoring matches despite helping the bowlers because of its shorter boundary. In the previous World Cup game held in Delhi, South Africa defeated Sri Lanka with a massive score of 428 runs. During India and Afghanistan's game, the wicket won't change.

On October 11, Delhi's climate is anticipated to be hot and damp. There is no risk of rain during India vs Afghanistan ODI World Cup match. The humidity forecast is to be between 47 and 55 percent while the temperature could range between 22 and 35 degrees Celsius. During the 50-over match, the wind speed will range from 8 to 13 km/h.

Hello and welcome to our live blog of the India vs Afghanistan ODI World Cup 2023 clash at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday. India won their opening match against Australia while Afghanistan lost their first encounter against Bangladesh. Stay tuned for all the latest updates!