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The penultimate Asia Cup 2018 Super Four fixture between India and Afghanistan is turning out to be an interesting clash courtesy of Afghanistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad who scored a brilliant century to help his side post 252/8.
India, who are already in the final decided to test their bench strength for this inconsequential clash. As much as five players from India's last encounter were rested including stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan. Deepak Chahar made his international ODI debut as Dhoni captained the side for the 200th time in ODIs.
Afghanistan with a point to prove too made two changes to their playing eleven and after winning the toss, they elected to bat first.
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Mohammad Shahzad better known for his big hitting prowess played a bizarre knock in Afghanistan's last match against Bangladesh. The opener was too cautious in his approach as he huffed and puffed to 53 off 81 balls.
But as the cliché goes 'nothing to lose, loads to gain', the opener went for his shots against the second string Indian bowling side. He had already reached his fifty before his opening partner reached the third prime number.
With heaps of wicket falling on from the other end, Shahzad lit up the stadium with his brilliant strokeplay. And when he was dismissed in the 38th over, he walked out after becoming the only Afghan player to score a ton against India.
Speaking about his performance, Shahzad said: "I just played my natural game. We know the wicket. We have been here for the last three weeks. Even before that, we have have been coming here and we know the conditions. It is very difficult because it is too hot. After 10 overs, it is slightly okay.
"The coach and captain said, 'you can stay in the wicket and you can play your natural game'. I just went there and played my natural game. The wicket was too flat and I just said to myself that it will be my day. They made a couple of changes and I went after the new bowlers."
Twitter too could not stop lauding his performance as many congratulated him on his brilliant century. Here are some tweets:
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