Asia Cup: 5 Unnoticed things from the India-Afghanistan match

India was up against Afghanistan, only for the second time in the history between the two sides. It was a dead-rubber in reference to the Asia Cup as India went in with as much as five changes. While Afghanistan was already ruled out of the tournament after losing two consecutive games, came out with a fearless approach to go all guns blazing against the Indians.

India was led by MS Dhoni in the absence of their first regulars. It was a rampaging start for the Afghans until Indian spinner pulled things back with four quick wickets. However, Mohammad Shahzad continued his own way to bring up his first ODI century against India and propel his side to a total of 252 runs.

In reply, India looked in all sorts of comfort as they began their chase with ease. A 100+ opening stand saw India on course before Afghanistan struck twice in quick succession to pull down the scoring rate. Some umpiring decisions that didn't go India's way, the men in blue were in a state of little bother but at the end, Cricket was the ultimate winner as the match got Tied on the ultimate ball of the game.

Let’s take a look at five unnoticed things from the match:

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#5 Dhoni becomes first Indian to captain in 200 ODIs

It was an occasion of delight for the Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni, who took the charge in the absence of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. It was for the 200th time that Dhoni was leading the Indian team in ODI cricket. With this, he became the only first Indian to achieve this feat.

There are only two players ahead of him, Stephen Fleming and Ricky Ponting, who have captained more matches for their respective teams. Dhoni is way ahead of next Indian, Mohammad Azharuddin on this list with 174 games as skipper of India in ODI cricket.

#4 M Shahzad registers highest ODI score for Afghanistan against India

It was a rampaging start for the Afghans as their opening batsman Mohammad Shahzad went berserk to clobber Indian bowlers in all parts of the ground. Shahzad took the charge against the bowlers and went onto smash an inspiring 124 runs before bowing out against Kedar Jadhav.

Shahzad’s explosive innings saw him conquer the inexperienced attack with ease as he hit 11 fours and 7 sixes to bring up the highest score against India by any Afghanistan batsman. He may not possess the best of techniques when it comes to batting but it was a display of sheer skill and power that he could tonk every other ball for such a long distance.

#3 Joint most sixes for Afghanistan in ODI innings (11)

There was some spectacular hitting on display by the Afghan batters as they continued to assert their dominance over the inexperienced Indian bowling line up. The attack was led by M Shahzad early on, while M Nabi finished off with some clean strokes in the death overs.

In all, Afghanistan batters were able to hit a total of 11 Sixes in their innings. This was the joint-most sixes for them in an ODI inning, equalling their record 11 sixes against Ireland at Greater Noida in 2017.

#2 Afghanistan use five spinners in their defence of 252

There is no doubt in saying that Afghanistan at present has the best spin bowling attack in the world. With the likes of M Nabi, Mujeeb and Rashid, they fancy a trio of some quality spin bowlers. This also happens to be the strength for the emerging team, who is taking huge strides in the World cricket.

In today’s game, Afghanistan looked to choke the opposition as they backed their skills to bowl spinners at one point of time during the defense of 252. Apart from their regulars, Rahmat Shah and Javed Ahmadi, the two part-timers even rolled their arms. Ahmadi did even manage to get the big scalp of MS Dhoni, the Indian captain.

#1 MS Dhoni is the oldest player to captain India in ODIs

After India made a plethora of changes for today’s contest against Afghanistan. As a result, the experienced likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and their formidable seam bowling attack was rested to rope in some young blood. And to everyone’s surprise, India hand MS Dhoni his 200th ODI as the skipper of India.

This was after more than a year and a half that MS Dhoni was once donning the skipper’s hat in the Blues. However, with this, he became the oldest Indian player to captain an Indian side in ODIs. Before the game, Mohammad Azharuddin (36 years and 124 days) was the oldest to skipper India while Dhoni (37 years and 80 days) went a notch ahead of the former skipper.