Afghan cricketers honor earthquake victims with black armbands against India in ODI World Cup 2023

The 9th match of the ODI World Cup 2023 is being played between India and Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday, October 11. However, in a symbol of solidarity and compassion, Afghanistan‘s cricket team donned black armbands during their match against India to pay tribute to the victims of a recent devastating earthquake in their country. 

The earthquake had caused widespread devastation and loss of life in the affected region, leaving communities grappling with the aftermath. The Afghan players, by wearing the black armbands, sent a powerful message of support and unity, emphasizing the humanitarian values that sports can represent. It was a moment where the spirit of sportsmanship merged with empathy for the human plight, underlining the deeper significance of the game.

Brilliant bowling performance by Indian bowlers

Talking about the match, Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran started decently but threw away their starts and when Rahmat Shah got out, it was 63/3. Afghanistan were in a spot of bother but the promotion of Azmatullah Omarzai worked superbly. 

Along with him, skipper Hashmatalluah Shahidi stabilised the innings and struck lusty blows as well off the spinners. Both batters reached their fifties but India’s star allrounder Hardik Pandya‘s slower ball got the allrounder. It broke the momentum as well and slowed down the innings. 

The skipper Shahidi carried on and was set for a 100 till he was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav on the score of 80 runs which included 8 fours and 1 six. Jasprit Bumrah came back on and picked up a four-fer to prevent Afghanistan from getting anywhere close to 300. With his magnificent bowling performance in which he picked up 4 wickets and conceded just 39 runs in his 10-over quota, Afghanistan were restricted to the score of 272 runs.