Twitter Reactions: Shivam Dube's all-round show blows away Afghanistan in Mohali as India go 1-0 up

India beat Afghanistan by six wickets in the first T20I of the three-match series on Thursday, January 11 at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali. After being put in to bat first, Afghanistan scored 158/5 in their allotted 20 overs with Mohammad Nabi top-scoring with 42 (27). In reply, India comfortably chased down the target in 17.3 overs with Shivam Dube starring with the bat scoring 60* (40).

India’s chase got off the worst possible start as captain Rohit Sharma (0 off 2) lost his wickets on the second ball due to a terrible miscommunication with Shubman Gill who also couldn’t convert his start (23 off 12) and got stumped against Mujeeb ur Rahman.

Also Read: Watch: Rohit Sharma's Hilarious Toss Gaffe involving Kuldeep Yadav during IND vs AFG, 1st T20I

After the early blow, Tilak Varma (26 off 22) walked in number four and added 44 runs for the third wicket with Shivam Dube off 29 balls. Dube got involved in another magnificent partnership of 45 off 31 for the fifth wicket with Jitesh Sharma (31 off 20).

The all-rounder brought up his second T20I fifty and remained unbeaten on 60* off 40 balls clobbering five fours and two sixes in his innings. Dube and Rinku Singh (16* off 9) took India home with their unbeaten 42-run stand off 22 balls for the sixth wicket. As a result, India chased down 159 with 15 balls to spare and won by six wickets. Mujeeb ur Rahman was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan as he registered figures of 2/21 in four overs.

Earlier in the day, after being put in to bat first, Afghanistan got off to a good start as openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 off 28) and Ibrahim Zadran (25 off 22) added 50 runs for the first wicket off 48 balls. However, after a good start, India made a strong comeback as Axar Patel (2/23) dismissed Gurbaz and Rahmat Shah (3 off 6) while Shivam Dube got rid of Ibrahim Zadran to leave Afghanistan on 57/3 after 10 overs.

Also Read: Why are Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal not playing 1st T20I against Afghanistan 2024?

After the three quick blows, Azmatullah Omarzai (29 off 22) got involved in a massive 68-run stans off 43 balls with Mohammad Nabi (42 off 27) for the fourth wicket to help his side cross the 120-run mark. Najibullah Zadran (19* off 11) and Karim Janat (9* off 5) also played brilliant cameos to help their side finish on 158/5 after 20 overs.

Meanwhile, X was abuzz with reactions on India's win. Here are some of the posts: