Veteran Indian batsman Rohit Sharma created history by taking the field in the first ODI against Afghanistan in Dharamsala on Saturday. He became the oldest player to represent India in ODIs at the age of 39 years and 44 days. Led by Subhash Gill, India won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Rohit Sharma broke an old record that stood intact for almost 37 years. The previous record was held by 1983 World Cup hero Mahinder Amarnath. Amarnath was 39 years and 36 days old when he played his last ODI in Mumbai on 30 October against the West Indies, Rohit, who recently played for Mumbai Indians in the 2026 IPL, had some doubts over his fitness ahead of the series but eventually recovered and was included in the squad.
Pacer Gurnoor Brar and all-rounder Harsh Dubey made their international debuts for India in the match which started after a rain break of about four hours. Ishan Kishan has replaced Yasswi Jaiswal at number three in the batting order. This is the first bilateral ODI series between India and Afghanistan.
Prior to the second match of the series between the two countries being played in Lucknow on Wednesday and the final in Chennai in June, the two teams had only met in the ODI format in the World Cup and Asia Cup, with India winning three of the four matches played and drawing one. India have lost three of their last five ODIs while Afghanistan have won four in a row. However, India dominated their only Test match against Afghanistan last week, winning by an innings and 300 runs in just three days.
Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya are missing from the series due to injury and Jasprit Bumrah has been rested. Dharamshala’s pitch is likely to help the pace bowlers and the threat of rain is expected to give the batting side some extra leverage.