A stop-start afternoon in Dharamsala ended with India one-up in the three-match ODI series, thanks largely to two young men in their first international outing. Fast bowler Gurnoor Brar and left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey shared six wickets as Afghanistan were bowled out for 194 with one ball left in a 25-over contest. Shubman Gill then guided the chase with an unbeaten 84 from 66 deliveries, sealing victory with 17 balls to spare.
Key moments first, detail later. Rain trimmed the match to 25 overs a side. Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 48-ball hundred threatened to make the adjustment feel academic, but once Brar hurried him with pace touching 150kph and Dubey slowed things down in the middle overs, Afghanistan lost 9 for 62 and any real momentum.
Gill, standing in as captain, liked what he saw. “Very impressive upfront – how Gurnoor bowled, brilliant pace and the way he was swinging the ball, the kind of lengths he bowled consistently,” he said. “And even Harsh as well. After, in the first over, he went for 16-17 runs… the way he pulled the game back, trusted himself and kept tossing the ball up. It was very impressive.”
Brar, 23, has kept interviews simple of late. “My philosophy is simply to keep grinding,” he repeated after collecting figures of 3 for 37. His approach showed: a heavy length, the odd fuller ball, and plenty of energy through the crease. Dubey’s 3 for 28 was about flight and dip; he conceded 16 in his first over, then allowed only 12 off the next four.
Afghanistan’s 194 never looked enough once Ishan Kishan bashed a rapid 32 and KL Rahul added a run-a-ball Thirty-five. With wickets in hand, Gill could – in his words – “keep rotating the strike” and “really set up the game in the death.” India crossed the line at exactly six-and-a-half an over without fuss.
Gill underlined why those middle-over passages mattered. “I think the middle overs in one-day games is very crucial,” he said. “If you can, as a bowling group, keep building pressure in the middle overs and keep creating opportunities… And same when we are batting, if we can keep rotating the strike, keep batting at a healthy run rate, six-six and a half without losing too many wickets, then you can really set up the game in the death.”
For Afghanistan, Gurbaz’s hundred – pummelled through point and mid-wicket alike – was the bright spot. Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi later admitted the innings “deserved more support”. He also praised India’s debutants, calling Brar’s extra pace “a surprise we did not handle well”.
Next match is in Delhi on Tuesday. India will consider whether to stick with the newcomers or freshen the attack; Afghanistan must decide how to score briskly without imploding once the ball starts doing a bit. Either way, the series already has a talking point: two debutants who refused to play it quiet.
