India vs Afghanistan: India defeated Afghanistan by 8 wickets in Delhi on Wednesday after Rohit Sharma’s 84-ball 131 and Jasprit Bumrah’s haul of 4 for 39 off 10 overs. Rohit also became the leading century-maker in World Cup history.

Rohit Sharma’s 84-ball 131 highlights massive Indian victory over Afghanistan (AP Photo)

Rohit Sharma smashed 131 off 84 balls to set a new World Cup record and script an 8-wicket victory for India over Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday. Rohit went past Sachin Tendulkar after he scored his 7th World Cup hundred to take the lead in the list for most hundreds in the tournament’s history.

Rohit Sharma’s knock destroyed Afghanistan’s hopes after they had posted a decent, yet sub-par 272 for 8 after Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and decided to bat. On a great batting surface, 273 was never going to challenge India but Rohit’s masterclass completely shut the door on Afghanistan, who had troubled India in the 2019 World Cup before Mohammed Shami’s hat-trick sealed a thrilling win.

Afghanistan have the kind of bowlers who could threaten the best of batsmen on their day. But Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Azmatullah Omarzai and Rashid Khan were shown scant respect by Rohit Sharma, who was desperate to redeem himself after a duck against Australia in India’s tournament opener on Sunday.

Rohit Sharma was involved in a 156-run opening stand with Ishan Kishan, who had bagged a golden duck on his World Cup debut three nights ago. Ishan was edgy at the start of his innings and did not look as fluent as his captain at any stage but he unleashed some good-looking shots before falling to Rashid Khan for a run-a-ball 47.

Afghanistan weren’t totally hopeless with the ball. Naveen-ul-Haq, who was involved in a nasty fight with Virat Kohli during the IPL earlier this year, was booed by the Delhi crowd but he was the pick of the Afghanistan bowlers. He bowled some good lines but nothing mattered, really. Rohit Sharma dealt majorly in boundaries and broke a string of records to put India in the driving seat.

Rohit Sharma equalled David Warner’s record for the quickest 1000 runs in World Cups and broke Chris Gayle’s record for most sixes in international cricket across formats. Rohit, who had hit a hundred in his first World Cup in 2015, scored 5 centuries in 2019, a World Cup record few would ever come close to. Four years ago, Rohit Sharma had drawn level with Sachin Tendulkar for the most hundreds in World Cups. On Wednesday, Rohit went past Tendulkar to become the batsman with most hundreds in the tournament’s 48-year-old history.

While Sachin Tendulkar finished with 6 hundreds from 45 World Cup matches, Rohit Sharma went past the Master Blaster in just 19 innings.

Rohit Sharma also broke Kapil Dev’s record for the fastest hundred by an Indian in World Cups. Rohit reached his landmark off 63 balls while Kapil had scored a hundred off 72 balls against Zimbabwe in 1983 en route a historic 175 not out. Rohit’s 131 was also the highest score by an Indian batter in a successful run-chase in the World Cup.

It was impossible to bowl a particular line to Rohit Sharma consistently on Wednesday. He punished any bowler who erred slightly and was ready to pounce on the opportunity if the bowler tried to overcompensate on an absolute belter.

Rohit Sharma’s onslaught finally ended after he had plundered 131 off 84 balls, when he was dismissed by Rashid Khan. Such was the ferocity of Rohit’s innings and so many records tumbled on the way that you could be excused for overlooking another important stat: he now has 31 ODI hundreds, one more than the legendary Ricky Ponting. This also means three Indians now sit on top of the list for most hundreds in the ODI format.

After Rohit Sharma’s dismissal, the Indian chase was steered by Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, who were happy to collect the runs in ones and twos. But India won with plenty to spare and therefore gave their net run rate a massive boost. Kohli went on to score his second successive half-century of the World Cup as India won with 15 overs to spare.

Afghanistan were not expected to win against India but they would have liked to make this game more competitive. Hashmatullah Shahidi (80) and Azmatullah Omarzai (62) helped them recover from 63 for 3 but up against one of the most well-balanced bowling line-ups in the World Cup, they could not do a whole lot more. Jasprit Bumrah was on fire for India, picking 4 for 39 off his 10 overs while Kuldeep Yadav picked 1 wicket and gave away just 40 runs in his 10 overs. Hardik Pandya, who turned 30 on Wednesday, took 2 wickets.

India, who have now won their matches so far in this World Cup, will take on Pakistan in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

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