The India vs Afghanistan ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 game saw several memorable moments. India chased down 273-run target in just 35 over to climb to the second spot in the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 points table. Rohit Sharma scored 131 and became the player with the most number of centuries (7) at the ODI World Cup. He reached the triple-figure mark in 63 balls, the fastest-ever ODI ton by an Indian in a World Cup match. He surpassed Kapil Dev, who reached 100 in 72 balls in a famous century at the 1983 World Cup. But there was another moment in the game that stood out. It involved former Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli and Afghanistan's Naveen Ul Haq.
Virat KOhli and Naveen Ul Haq were involved in a heated altercation during the IPL 2023. The incident created a lot of noise. Wednesday was the first time that the two again faced each other on the cricket field.
There was a whole sub-plot going on involving the two in the build-up to the match. In fact, during the match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, Naveen Ul Haq was jeered at by the crowd. They were constantly chanting 'Kohli, Kohli'. However, at point of time Kohli took note of it and asked the crowd to not go overboard. In fact, Virat Kohli and Naveen Ul Haq even hugged it out during the match.
During the course of the game, India captain Rohit Sharma became the first Indian to score seven world cup hundreds, surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar during their clash against Afghanistan. While Tendulkar recorded six centuries in as many editions of World Cups that he played -- 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011, Rohit achieved the feat in only three: 2015, 2019 and 2023.
Rohit also holds the record of scoring most centuries (five) by any batter in a World Cup edition - a feat that he achieved in 2019 in England.
Rohit's ton against Afghanistan was his 31st overall, taking him past Australian legend Ricky Ponting. He is now behind India's Virat Kohli (47) and Tendulkar (49) in the history of ODI cricket.
Rohit also broke Kapil Dev's (72) record of fastest ODI century for India in World Cup history, moving into triple figures off just 63 balls (12x4s, 4x6s).
In imperious form during India's chase of 273 against Afghanistan, Rohit also went past West Indies' Chris Gayle (553 sixes across formats) to record most sixes hit in international cricket across formats.
Rohit completed his half-century off just 30 balls — second fastest in the edition so far — while hitting three sixes and seven fours to make 60 unbeaten off 32 balls at the end of the eighth over.
Rohit unleashed his signature pull shot to hit Afghanistan bowler Naveen-Ul-Haq on the penultimate ball of the eighth over to overtake Gayle. Pakistan's Shahid Afridi is third in the list with overall 476 sixes.
In the process, the Indian skipper also joined Australia's David Warner in taking least number of innings (19) to complete 1,000 runs in World Cup history.
Among other Indians, Tendulkar (20) and Sourav Ganguly (21) feature among those with quickest to 1,000 runs in World Cups.
With PTI inputs