IND vs AFG: Jaiswal's century, Krishna's five-for guide India to 3-0 whitewash

India completed a 3-0 whitewash over Afghanistan with a nine-wicket victory in the third and final ODI on Saturday, June 20 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. After opting to bat first, Afghanistan were skittled for 218 in 44.2 overs, despite a valiant century from captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (102 off 131), while Azmatullah Omarzai (50 off 56) also chipped in with a half-century.

Prasidh Krishna emerged as the pick of the bowlers for India with his maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs. In reply, the Men in Blue chased down the target in just 28.4 overs, riding on a spectacular century from Yashasvi Jaiswal, while Rohit Sharma (79 off 69) also played a magnificent innings. It was the fastest 200-plus run chase ever completed by India in their ODI history. As a result, they registered a comprehensive victory to win the series by 3-0.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Prasidh Krishna was adjudged Player of the Match for his maiden five-wicket haul. He registered figures of 5/23 in 8.2 overs to break the back of Afghanistan’s batting. 

On the other hand, India captain Shubman Gill was adjudged Player of the Series for finishing as the highest run scorer of the rubber. He accumulated 238 runs from two innings at an average of 238 and a strike rate of 135.22 with a highest score of 154.

Turning Point

After Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to bat first, the onus to get India off to a good start with the ball was on Prasidh Krishna, who didn’t disappoint. The towering seamer ran through the Afghanistan top order to leave them reeling at 36/4 after 9.2 overs. He later returned to dismiss a well-set Hashmatullah Shahidi for 102 to finish Afghanistan’s innings and complete his five-wicket haul.

Later in the second innings, India’s chase got off to a blistering start with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma adding a massive 170 runs for the first wicket off just 137 balls. The duo crushed any hopes of a comeback for Afghanistan and closed the game through their massive stand.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Shubman Gill (India):  

Yeah, definitely. I think the first spell bowled by Gurnoor and Prasidh was outstanding to see that kind of pace in those conditions was not easy, but I think they kept putting their effort and kept pushing. (Were you tempted to give them that one extra over?) I mean, definitely you are, but you know, looking at the weather, I did ask them if they wanted to bowl that one extra over, but they were pretty exhausted. (How many boxes have you ticked in this series?) A lot of them definitely. I think a lot of the boxes are ticked. We spoke about keeping the intensity in the middle overs and some of the things that we also spoke about was how can we keep creating those opportunities in the middle overs as a bowling unit and as a batting unit, how can we keep pushing for the extra runs in the middle overs. And I think a lot of those boxes were ticked. (What are you looking forward to with what you've got coming up?) Going to England the conditions would be a little bit more similar to what we get in South Africa, not quite similar, but still close to that. So the kind of combination that we would be looking to play there, hopefully we have all the players fit and ready, it is going to be another great series for us.

Losing Captain, Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan):

I think today, at the first 10 overs, I think they bowled well, but we lost wickets that put us under pressure. And after that, me and Azmat had a good partnership, but again, we didn't finish well in the batting because after that partnership, we lost back-to-back wickets. That's why we fell short while scoring runs. (On getting his maiden ODI hundred) After a long, I think, 95 games, I scored my first 100. I feel good and Inshallah, I will try my best to, from today, to do it again and again for my country. And yeah, it was so hot and I was feeling cramping. I'm feeling good now. (What is the plan moving forward?) I think we have talented guys, but when it comes to India, playing in India is a tough side and we will learn, we were not good. We will learn from that. And moving forward, I think we are a quality side, but we were away from ODI cricket because last year we played Bangladesh eight months ago. So we play Ireland next and in the three games, we were lacking, we will work on that and yeah, the coach is also new and we will try to work together as a team.