It was a watershed moment for Afghanistan cricket when Mohammad Nabi was handed his Indian Premier League debut cap by Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday during the match against Kings XI Punjab.
Nabi’s compatriot Rashid Khan had already made his debut during the first match of the tournament and it was the first instance when two Afghanistan players played together in the lucrative league.
Meanwhile, an unbeaten 70-run knock from David Warner propelled the defending champions to 159 for six in the allotted 20 overs. The defending champions lost wickets at regular intervals which never gave their innings the impetus but Warner held from one end to guide his team to a respectable total.
Shikhar Dhawan and Moises Henriques managed 15 and nine respectively while Yuvraj Singh failed even to open his account, as the hosts were reduced to 50 for three in the tenth over. A 60-run stand between Warner and Naman Ojha then steadied the ship before the latter was dismissed by KC Cariappa.
Nabi had a forgettable debut, as he could manage only two runs from 3 deliveries but Rashid made the most of the batting opportunity by hitting the last delivery of the innings for a six.
Here is how Twitter reacted to Nabi’s debut and SRH’s innings:
History has been made!
Best Match in @IPL this season. @MohammadNabi007 and @rashidkhan_19 playing together for @SunRisersI am so excited
— Saeedullah Taraky (@srtaraky) April 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/nikyarb/status/853976928709218305
Big day for @MohammadNabi007 the first game in @IPL for @SunRisers wish him a very fine match.
— Wahid Hamidi (@wahidhamidi707) April 17, 2017
Rise, Afghans! Can't wait to see @MohammadNabi007 and @rashidkhan_19 bowl, in tandem. Looking forward to this. #IPL #SRHvsKXIP @SunRisers
— Lokesh Kaza (@LokeshKaza) April 17, 2017
Close competition this ! Shikhar Dhawan is the Ishant Sharma of batting and Ishant Sharma is the Shikhar Dhawan of bowling.#SRHvKXIP
— The Lying Lama 2.0 (@KyaUkhaadLega) April 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/SirIshantSharma/status/853998961782386688
Seeing a completely new dimension to David Warner today. He might well have read this surface perfectly
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 17, 2017
David Warner's 45-ball fifty is the 2nd slowest #IPL fifty for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Slowest: 48 balls by Shikhar Dhawan vs RPS, 2016.
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) April 17, 2017