Hardik Pandya crashes into Mohammad Shahzad during IND vs AFG T20 World Cup Match | Watch

Team India finally managed to get their first points of the T20 World Cup campaign after crushing Afghanistan by 66 runs in the Group 2 match in Abu Dhabi. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma finally came good with the bat helping the team to victory.

Apart from the openers, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya played some big shots towards the end of the innings helping India cross the 200 run mark. Apart from a brilliant batting performance, the match also witnessed a collision between Hardik Pandya and Afghanistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad during India's innings.

T20 World Cup: Hardik Pandya Crashes into Mohammad Shahzad

Hardik Pandya crashed into Mohammad Shahzad during the final overs of the Indian innings. The first ball of the 18th over saw Hardik Pandya going for the big shot only to see the ball take an edge and go high up in the air. Najibullah Zadran, who was standing in the mid-on position, dropped the catch. After the catch was dropped Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant, tried to go for a second run.

When the all-rounder tried to enter the crease, he collided with the Afghanistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad. Hardik directly went and bumped into Shahzad and both the players fell on the ground. The Afghan keeper actually got hurt on his back because he turned around as the Indian player bumped into him. Following the collision, Hardik Pandya sat on the ground and asked for some help.

Pandya's injury has been a topic of discussion along with his form with the bat. The India all-rounder's injury had raised questions about him not bowling. However, Pandya finally silenced his critics with the knock against Afghanistan. 

T20 World Cup: India vs Afghanistan highlights

With India batting first Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul finally brought their A-game on the pitch and sent the inexperienced Afghanistan side for a leather hunt. Rohit (74 off 47 balls) and KL Rahul (69 off 48 balls) put up a record 140 runs for the opening stand. This was also the highest partnership total in this edition of T20 World Cup. The Pandya-Pant duo clobbered 63 runs in 3.3 overs to take the total to 210 which went beyond Afghanistan's reach. 

Ravichandran Ashwin, playing his first international game in six months and white ball international after four years, was too good for the Afghans with figures of 2 for 12 in four overs that also had 12 dots. Jasprit Bumrah (1/25 in 4 overs) was steady as usual while Ravindra Jadeja (1/19 in 3 overs) looked decent. Mohammed Shami (3/32 in 4 overs) got a bit of the stick but picked wickets at regular intervals.

(With inputs from PTI)