ODI World Cup 2023: Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq exchange smiles at the Arun Jaitley

Afghanistan took on India in the ninth game of the ICC ODI World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. After calling it right at the toss, Hashmatullah Shahidi opted to bat first. On a decent Delhi surface, Afghanistan put 272 on the board. 

During the chase, after all the drama and heated exchanges during the IPL, Virat Kohli and Naveen-ul-Haq exchanged a smile and also hugged each other. 

Coming to the game, after winning the toss, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran opened the innings and were off to a positive start with a flurry of boundaries. Jasprit Bumrah drew first blood after he set up Ibrahim Zadran with a peach. 

Rahmat Shah came into bat at No. 3 and showed a bit of promise but perished for just 16. Afghanistan skipper Shahidi took his time and rotated the strike with a lot of intent. Free-flowing Gurbaz was caught at fine leg by Shardul Thakur. Azmatullah Omarzai stitched a good partnership with his skipper to put Afghanistan back in the game. Birthday boy Hardik Pandya broke the partnership with a slower one, and the wickets kept on tumbling from then on. 

After Rashid added 16, Afghanistan got to 272 for the loss of eight in their 50 overs. Ishan Kishan looked tentative but looked in the zone after a few boundaries. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, looked like batting on a different planet. The Indian captain scored his seventh World Cup ton, going past the legendary Sachin Tendulkar with six. 

After Rohit's heroics, local boy Virat Kohli stroked his way to yet another fifty while Shreyas Iyer hit 25* to take India home in Delhi. India now have four points with a Net Run Rate of 1.500 and go into the Pakistan game with a lot of runs from their batters. 

India and Pakistan take on each other at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 14th.