Team India skipper Shubman Gill’s catching skills were on full display in the ongoing opening ODI against Afghanistan in Dharamsala on June 13. In a rain-reduced 25-over contest, the Afghans were well-placed at 176/6 in 21 overs.
Debutant Harsh Dubey was called on to bowl the crucial 22nd over with Afghanistan looking to accelerate. After conceding a six off the first delivery, the left-arm spinner dismissed a well-set Azmatullah Omarzai off the very next delivery.
Two balls later, Dubey found the edge off Allah Ghazanfar’s bat, but the ball seemed to be evading Gill. Yet, the Indian skipper flew to his left at first slip, plucked the ball, and kept control to complete a spectacular catch.
Here is the video of Gill’s brilliant one-handed effort:
Gill’s outstanding catch helped Dubey pick up his second wicket in the over and third overall as he finished with figures of 3/47 in five overs. The Indian skipper had the on-air commentators in awe, with his teammates mobbing him for the acrobatics.
Shubman Gill’s brilliant catch derails Afghanistan’s finishing flourish
Shubman Gill’s spectacular catch left Afghanistan eight down with more than three overs remaining in their innings. Thus, they failed to finish with a flourish, adding only 12 further runs to be bowled out for 194 in 24.5 overs.
The home side initially had Afghanistan on the ropes at 26/3 in the fifth over after winning the toss and fielding first. However, explosive opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz produced a breathtaking 51-ball 102 with eight maximums and as many boundaries to resurrect the Afghan innings.
At one stage, the visitors were coasting at 142/3 in the 16th over before Gurbaz’s dismissal kick-started a batting collapse.
On the bowling front, Team India were led by the debutants, Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey, who picked up three wickets each. Arshdeep Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy bagged two wickets each to keep Afghanistan’s final score in check.
Chasing 195 for a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series, India are off to an excellent start at 19/0 in two overs.
Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
