New Delhi, Jan, 15: India cruised to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the second T20I and thus confirmed a series win for themselves in Indore on Sunday. Axar Patel led the bowling effort as Afghanistan were all out for 172 on a placid pitch at the Holkar Stadium after which whirlwind half-centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube helped India win with 26 balls to spare.
The match marked the return of former India captain Virat Kohli to T20I cricket. Kohli had not played an international game in the format since November 2022, which was India’s semi-final in the 2022 T20 World Cup against England. The fans in Indore, as one would expect, chanted his name quite frequently throughout the match, even when Kohli was sitting in the dugout after being dismissed during India’s chase. There was also a slight disruption during the Afghanistan innings when one member of the crowd found a way to the ground and met Kohli. He touched Kohli’s feet and hugged him before being taken off the ground.
He was detained by the Madhya Pradesh police, reported news agency PTI.
After detaining him, cops took the young man to Tukoganj police station.
A police official said that the youth had a ticket for the match and entered the Holkar Stadium from Narendra Hirwani Gate.
He said that the young man seemed to be a big Kohli fan and entered the ground by climbing the fence of the spectators’ gallery with the desire to meet the player.
The officer said that the youth was being interrogated.
Further steps will be taken in the case on the basis of interrogation, the official said.
Man claims he was pitch invader in Indore
Amid all this, a fan on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) claimed to be the person who breached security to hug Kohli. Aarav, who uses handle @sigma__male_ and has a display picture of Kohli in his profile, said it was the biggest achievement of his life.
There was, however, no official statement from the police about the identity of the man.
Kohli came out all guns blazing during the chase as opposed to playing his usual role of an anchor. The 35-year-old smacked 29 runs in 16 balls before falling in the last over of the powerplay.
After that, Jaiswal and Dube clobbered the Afghanistan bowlers into submission. While Yashasvi got out after hammering 68 off 34 balls, including six sixes, Dube ended unbeaten on a 32-ball 63, hitting four maximums in the process. Jaiswal hit six sixes in his innings while got Dube his second unbeaten half-century in this series. The latter had led India to victory in the first match as well, remaining unbeaten on 60 off 40 balls.
India’s chase got off to a rocky start with captain Rohit Sharma being bowled out by Fazalhaq Farooqi (1-28) for a golden duck. But the 22-year-old Jaiswal built a 57-run partnership with Virat Kohli (29) that put India in the driving seat.
Dube joined Jaiswal for the third-wicket partnership and the two added another 92 runs in the next seven overs, and by the time India lost two quick wickets to Karim Janat (2-13), including Jaiswal, it did little to swing the momentum. ( HT)
