WATCH: Naveen-Ul-Haq greeted with Virat Kohli chants during ODI World Cup game vs India

For the second time in World Cup history, India and Afghanistan played each other in their ODI World Cup 2023 clash. The game was played in New Delhi as a capacity crowd came out braving the blazing heat on Wednesday. The fans had come to see the battle that everyone was waiting and it was between Naveen Ul Haq and Virat Kohli. 

The two players had a huge clash during the IPL 2023 game played in Lucknow earlier this year. Once the schedule for ODI World Cup 2023 was announced the New Delhi fans knew they were in for a treat. The Afghan bowler had already announced his retirement from ODI cricket before the start of the tournament.

Afghanistan won the toss and wasted no time in electing to bat first. There was just one change for the Indian team as Shardul Thakur replaced veteran bowler Ravichandran Ashwin. The Afghans meanwhile went in with the same team that had lost to Bangladesh on Saturday.

Naveen Ul Haq gets a royal welcome from New Delhi fans – 

Rashid Khan was the 8^th batter out for Afghanistan and Naveen Ul Haq came to bat. The crowd instantly went crazy as they started chanting for Virat Kohli. Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri made instant note of this while he was on air doing commentary.

Delhi crowd erupts with 'Kohli, Kohli' chants when Naveen Ul Haq was on strike. pic.twitter.com/GrkpAMSIgj

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 11, 2023

The Afghanistan bowler though seemed to lap it up as he scored 9 runs from 8 balls with one four in his knock. Afghanistan scored 272 for the loss of eight wickets as they gave a good account of themselves with the bat.

Skipper Shahidi was the top scorer with his 88-ball 80 runs which included eight fours and one maximum. Azmatullah scored 62 runs and added 121 runs for the fourth wicket with his skipper. Bumrah stole the show with the ball taking four wickets from his entire quota of 10 overs.

Chasing 273 to win, Rohit Sharma cut loose and made the Afghanistan bowler pay for his failure against Australia. The Indian skipper scored the fastest ton by an Indian in the history of ODI World Cups. Rohit Sharma scored his first ton of ODI World Cup 2023 and his 7^th overall as India was on the cusp of their 2^nd win of the tournament.