IND vs AFG Final: The Indian men’s cricket team won a historic first gold medal in the Asian Games after the summit clash against Afghanistan at the Pingfeng Cricket Campus on Saturday (October 7) was called off due to rain.
Despite the match getting called off due to rain, India ended up on being the winning side and was awarded the gold since it is the higher-ranked team in the tournament. Based on their higher seeding, India emerged victorious.
Before the rain break, Shahidullah Kamal’s 49 and skipper Gulbadin Naib’s 27 helped Afghanistan reach 112/5 in 18.2 overs. India skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad won the toss and invited Afghanistan to bat first in the crucial encounter. His bowlers vindicated his decision after India struck early to put Afghanistan on the backfoot. Shivam Dube dismissed Zubaid Akbari in the second over, and Arshdeep Singh removed Mohammad Shahzad in the third over.
Things got worse for the Afghanistan team after they lost their third wicket in the fourth over. After early blows, Afghanistan showed some fight as Shahidullah Kamal and Afsar Zazai got together and stitched a 37-run partnership before Zazai was cleaned up by Ravi Bishnoi for 15 runs. With Afghanistan at 49 for four, Shahidullah was joined by Karim Janat at the crease. Janat was dismissed for 1 by Shahbaz Ahmed.
Afghanistan lost half their side with only 52 runs on the board. With Afghanistan in all sorts of trouble, skipper Gulbadin Naib came to the crease to rebuild the innings. He got together with Shahidullah and stitched a 60-run partnership, after which the play was stopped due to rain. The match could not resume and the match referee from Sri Lanka Graeme Labrooy abandoned the match as India sealed their maiden gold in cricket at the Asian Games.
For India, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Dube and Shahbaz Ahmed picked one wicket each.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan: 112/5, 18.2 overs (Shahidullah Kamal 49 not out, Gulbadin Naib 27 not out, Shivam Dube 1/4, Ravi Bishnoi 1/12)
