3 players who starred and 2 who flopped for India in 2nd T20I vs Afghanistan ft. Rohit Sharma & Yashasvi Jaiswal

Team India registered a convincing display in the second T20I in Indore as they beat Afghanistan by six wickets on Sunday, January 14. With the win, they took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

The ongoing rubber is India's last T20I assignment before the 2024 T20 World Cup, but they are a long way away from identifying their first-choice squad for the ICC event. Performances in the ongoing series will go a long way in the selectors' decisions.

On that note, here are three players who starred and two who flopped for Team India in the second T20I against Afghanistan.

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#5 Star - Yashasvi Jaiswal

Returning from a groin niggle that kept him out of the opening T20I, Yashasvi Jaiswal immediately made an impact. He punished the Afghan bowlers to all corners of the Holkar Stadium to effectively nail down his place in the side.

Jaiswal was severe on both pace and spin as he and Virat Kohli made the most of the powerplay. The southpaw pierced the off-side field with ease and cleared the boundary at will, refusing to give Afghanistan a way into the contest.

Jaiswal continued on his merry way in the middle overs and racked up a splendid half-century. By the time he was dismissed, the result was a foregone conclusion.

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#4 Flop - Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma bagged a two-ball duck in the first T20I, and things became worse in the second encounter. The Indian skipper, who was run out by Shubman Gill in the previous game, had only himself to blame this time around.

For some reason, Rohit preemptively decided to hoick the first ball he faced across the line. Fazalhaq Farooqi smacked the ball onto a good length, and the opener, who had shaped up to play a pull, ended up attempting the shot despite not having the length to play it.

The bails went for a toss, and Rohit walked back disconsolate. He is seriously short on time to prove his worth to the T20I side.

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#3 Star - Axar Patel

Axar Patel, who picked up two wickets in Mohali, went one step further in Indore by bowling an even more economical spell. On a batting beauty at the Holkar Stadium, he conceded just 17 runs in his four overs while picking up two wickets.

The first of Axar's wickets was a classic away-turner that beat the bat of Ibrahim Zadran and crashed into his stumps. After keeping things tight thereafter, the left-arm spinner capped off his spell with the important wicket of the dangerous Gulbadin Naib.

Axar seems to have found his bowling mojo once again, and that's a major positive for India as they approach the 2024 T20 World Cup.

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#2 Flop - Jitesh Sharma

Jitesh Sharma played an enterprising cameo in the previous game, but without much time to make an impression in the second T20I, he faltered.

There was no need for Jitesh to attempt a lofted hit off the second ball he faced, with the match well under India's control. But the keeper-batter got rushed for pace and spooned a simple catch to mid-off in a rather disappointing dismissal.

Jitesh also dropped a catch off Washington Sundar's bowling in the first innings, and it wasn't his best night overall.

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#1 Star - Shivam Dube

In the two matches so far, Shivam Dube has been the main man for the Men in Blue. He came up with another important all-round display in the second T20I to fire India to a series win.

Dube brought out a beautiful slower ball to castle Azmatullah Omarzai. While the 19th over he bowled was woefully expensive, he never should've been handed that responsibility in the first place.

Dube was his destructive self with the bat as he smashed five fours and four sixes, including three in a row off Nabi, en route to a sensational fifty. For the second game running, he saw the chase off and was there when the winning runs were hit.