India took a 1–0 lead in the three-match ODI series with a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Afghanistan in a rain-shortened opener at Dharamsala, built on strong bowling from two debutants and a fluent unbeaten innings from Shubman Gill.
Brief scores: India 195 for 3 (Shubman Gill 84 not out, KL Rahul 39 not out, Ishan Kishan 34; Rashid Khan 1 for 37) beat Afghanistan 194 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 102; Gurnoor Brar 3 for 27, Harsh Dubey 3 for 47, Arshdeep Singh 2 for 27) by seven wickets.
The fixture was due to start at 1.30 pm local time but persistent drizzle pushed the first ball back by more than four hours. When play finally began, the contest was trimmed to 25 overs per side.
Afghanistan’s innings revolved around Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who produced a dazzling 51-ball 102 — the fastest century by an Afghanistan batter in ODIs and his ninth in the format. His assault gave the visitors a platform, but support from the rest of the order was limited. Afghanistan were bowled out for 194 in 24.5 overs.
Debutants Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar led India’s attack with three wickets each. Arshdeep Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy added two apiece as the middle and lower order failed to build on Gurbaz’s brilliance.
The chase proved straightforward. Rohit Sharma was run out for 16, but Gill anchored the innings with an unbeaten 84 from 66 balls, passing fifty for the 18th time in ODIs and becoming the second-quickest batter to reach 3,000 runs in the format.
Ishan Kishan injected pace with 34 from 22, and KL Rahul finished unbeaten on 39 from 19, striking the winning runs as India reached 195 for three in 22.5 overs.
On a day dominated by weather delays, Gurbaz’s century will stand out as the individual highlight. For India, the combination of new-ball impact from Dubey and Brar and a controlled chase underlined their depth ahead of the remaining two matches.