Asian Games: India clinch historic gold medal in Hangzhou

The final of the Asian Games Men’s Cricket Competition saw team India take on Afghanistan at the Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field in Hangzhou on Saturday, October 7. Led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, India performed brilliantly in the knockout stages as they made it to the summit clash of the competition.

Taking on Afghanistan for the gold medal, the clash began with India winning the toss and opting to field first. As Afghanistan came out to bat, the side got off to a horrid start. Openers Zubaid Akbari and Mohammad Shahzad were sent back to the pavilion for just five and four runs, respectively.

Furthermore, Noor Ali Zadran’s dismissal for just one run added more to Afghanistan’s misery. After the top-order’s failure to go big, Shahidullah played a resilient knock to bring the side back on track. Scoring 49* runs in 43 deliveries, the batter stayed at the crease, unbeaten.

Afsar Zazai added 15 runs on the board as well, with skipper Gulbadin Naib scoring 27 runs. Afghanistan had managed to post a total of 112 runs on the board before rain came knocking down.

The Indian bowlers did a commendable job of keeping Afghanistan limited as well. Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Ravi Bishnoi took one wicket each. They made sure that they got breakthroughs at regular intervals.

India clinch gold due to a higher seeding

However, as rain played spoilsport in the clash, the game was abandoned with no result. Having scored 112 runs on the board, the clash was washed out, and due to the rain, Afghanistan bagged silver.

The washout meant ecstasy for India as they won the gold medal due to the side having a higher seeding than Afghanistan. Despite the game producing no result, Afghanistan had to settle for a silver medal. As India won yet another gold medal in the Asian Games, social media was set alight as many fans congratulated the team on securing another gold.