The ‘Men in blue’ have joined New Zealand and Pakistan at the top of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 table, breezing to an eight-wicket win over Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium thanks in large part to Rohit Sharma's record knock.
The hosts reached the 273-run target with 15 overs to spare, with their skipper re-writing the history books. His seventh Cricket World Cup hundred put him past compatriot Sachin Tendulkar's total of six and also put him with David Warner as the equal-fastest players to reach 1000 Cricket World Cup runs by innings batted (19).
Opening the batting, the skipper blazed 131 from just 84 balls, hitting 21 boundaries as opposite number Hashmatullah Shahidi struggled to come up with a solution. It was the fastest century for an Indian batter in Cricket World Cup history, beating out legend Kapil Dev, who reached a century in 72 balls against Zimbabwe in 1983.
Rohit eventually fell to Rashid Khan who also claimed Afghanistan's other wicket, though India cruised to their victory total with ease as Virat Kohli (55*) and Shreyas Iyer (25*) ensured a strong net run rate-boosting win.
Earlier, India made a fiery start in their chase, with the skipper reaching his hundred in the 18th over, as India looked to close the game early. The Afghans have were largely bereft of answers outside of Rashid, who was deployed late in Afghanistan's efforts by his lofty standards.
