India vs Afghanistan LIVE: Cricket World Cup 2023 result and reaction as Virat Kohli 50 leads hosts to victory

If the international cricketing community didn’t know who Rachin Ravindra was, they are certainly familiar with the all-rounder now after the opening game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in which he became the youngest New Zealand batter to score a World Cup century.

The astounding feat came as Ravindra played a significant role in both innings of New Zealand’s nine-wicket win against defending champions England in the cricket tournament’s opening game on Thursday last week.

Some NFL players have expressed interest in playing for the U.S. flag football team if the sport is included in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, an NFL executive told Reuters.

On Monday, LA28 organisers formally asked that flag football for both the men’s and women’s competitions as well as four other sports be added to the event - including cricket.

Final approval of the programme is expected to come when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meets later this month in Mumbai.

Afghanistan star Rashid Khan has said he will be donating his match fees from the ICC Cricket World Cup to help the victims of the catastrophic earthquake that struck his country over the weekend.

The powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook Herat in western Afghanistan, killing over 2,400 people, injuring over 2,000 and destroying at least 1,300 houses. It comes just 16 months after another major earthquake hit the country in June 2022 that led to 1,000 deaths.

Khan, who captains Afghanistan’s T20 side and is one of the most successful sporting figures from the country, has always been vocal about the welfare of his countrymen. He has now pledged to do his bit to help Afghanistan in its time of crisis.

Former Australian cricketer Shane Watson is confident that Pakistan skipper Babar Azam will return to his best form when his side takes on arch-rivals India this weekend in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

Azam has had a poor start in the ongoing 50-over World Cup in India, having managed just scores of five and 10 in Pakistan’s first two games of the tournament. Fortunately, Azam’s struggles have not affected Pakistan’s results so far, with the Men in Green beating the Netherlands and Sri Lanka in Hyderabad.

Pakistan’s next match in the group stage of the World Cup is a big one as they are set to face off against hosts India at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on 14 October, following India’s game today against Afghanistan.

Virat Kohli has said he will feel “awkward” playing in front of the pavilion named after him in India’s next World Cup match in Delhi.

The star batsman was referring to the venue for his country’s next game in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, in comments made to his team mate KL Rahul.

Team India are currently in Delhi, where Kohli grew up and embarked on his journey as a cricketer, for their second match in the World Cup against Afghanistan on Wednesday.

After a nine-wicket humiliation at the hands of New Zealand in their Cricket World Cup opener, England needed a response. They got it in the form of a dominant 137-run victory over Bangladesh in Dharamshala, but the game should have been killed off far earlier.

Having been put in to bat, England set the ideal platform. Jonny Bairstow hit 52 and Dawid Malan played expertly from the outset en route to a match-winning 140 from 107 balls. Joe Root, who had been the one bright spark against New Zealand, shone again with 82 from 68.

But the cracks appeared once the top order had been dispatched. England were 296 for two in the 40th over, and with the prospect of 10 more to come, former captain Eoin Morgan spoke positively with the expectation that the side could reach 400 for the first time in a World Cup. Then the wickets started to tumble.

Dawid Malan vowed to “keep silencing people” after his century helped England get back to winning ways at the World Cup with a convincing display against Bangladesh.

Now 36, Malan has had to scrap hard for every opportunity he has had in international cricket and only inked his name into the World Cup side a matter of days before jetting out to India.

As recently as last month he was viewed as a versatile reserve batter for the tournament rather than a starter, but Jason Roy’s untimely battle with back spasms and Malan’s own player-of-the-series showing against New Zealand finally saw him nail down a spot at opener.

Jos Buttler was concerned by the “poor” outfield at the Dharamshala cricket stadium ahead of England’s second Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh on Tuesday and insisted it was different to when he played there during the Indian Premier League.

England will be looking to bounce back from their dismal hammering at the hands of New Zealand in the tournament’s opening match in Ahmedabad, where the defending champions were beaten by nine wickets.

The HPCA Stadium has one of the most beautiful settings, nestled in the Himalayan foothills, and is visually stunning, but it was the scene of a potentially nasty injury earlier in the tournament. Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman dived for a ball on Saturday against Bangladesh and his knee got stuck in the turf, spraying soil into the air.

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of India vs Afghanistan. The Cricket World Cup hosts are hoping to make it two wins from two as they travel to Delhi to face associate nation Afghanistan this morning.

Virat Kohli inspired a comeback during India’s opening match victory against Australia, by scoring 85 in a partnership of 165 with KL Rahul that salvage their run chase after they had slumped to two for three early on.

It was a brilliant rearguard innings that turned the game on a difficult pitch in Chennai and captain Rohit Sharma will be hoping for an easier time of things today.

The Indians are once again without star batter Shubman Gill who misses out with dengue and are expected to name a similar line-up to the team that defeated the Australians.

We’ll have build-up throughout the morning before the match begins at its scheduled time of 9.30am BST.