India vs Afghanistan, 9th Match at Delhi, World Cup 2023, Oct 11 2023 - Match Result

India go two in two ahead of the Pakistan clash. Afghanistan have lost two games and have a few issues to sort out, particularly when it comes to maximising the team total. Follow the tournament here on ESPNcricinfo to find out if they can turn things around. For now, it's goodbye from me, Ekanth, on behalf of my report-writing co-commentator, Danyal Rasool, and our scorers, Chandan Duorah and M Venkat Raghav.

Rohit Sharma: Was a good win for us. Important to get the momentum at the start. You will be put under pressure. There will be a spell from the opposition and we'll have to absorb the pressure. We absorbed it well. For now, it's leaving what's happened aside and move on. You've got players with different skillsets bringing different attributes, which is good for the team. We got batters who play freely and fearlessly. When you have all-round players, things take care of themselves. In WCs, you need to respond with different styles of play. Looking at India Pakistan like we did this game. Don't want to worry about the external favours. We'll treat every game like that: how the pitch plays, conditions and combinations, etc.

Hashmatullah Shahidi: We had above 300 as the target in mind, given India's strong line-up. Unfortunately, we lost back-to-back wickets in the middle. Our thinking at the toss was that it was a good pitch and we wanted to put up big runs. After losing three, me and Azmat were talking, told him to keep going and look after each other. Looking forward to the seven more games. Hope to work on the issues and come back positively.

Venkatesh : "Isn't Siraj bowling a matter of concern" Not yet. Just one bad game for now.

Rohit Sharma, POTM Was a good pitch to bat. Backing myself to play my natural game. Knew wicket would get easier once I'd get my eye in. It's something I've been working on for a while. Special to get a World Cup 100. Very happy about that. Don't want to think about records too much because I know there's a long way to go ahead and not to lose my focus and what's required. Just want to make it count on days like this. Some of my play is premeditated, can't just go out and play big shots. Sometimes, you go by instinct. It's a mixture of both. I know it's my responsibility to give the team a good start and put the team in a good position as much as possible. It's something I've done for a while and love. Looks good when it works out. It doesn't always come off but I want to back myself to keep trying and put pressure on the opposition.

9pm A comfortable eight-wicket win for India with all of 15 overs to spare. Rohit Sharma's back in form, Bumrah looked great. Things coming together for the hosts. Afghanistan pushed their way to get a decent score but Rohit's powerplay bash left them high and dry. The pulls were effortless, the swats nonchalant and the drives powerful. Farooqi bowling straight lines and trying to bring the ball back in backfired bigtime, as did Rashid being held back till the 15th over.

Pawan : "Kohli , finish this with your fifty in this over."

Drinks

Thanks, Danyal

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