1st T20I: Shivam Dube's half-century powers India to beat Afghanistan by six wickets
Mohali, Jan 11: India's fringe players, led by Shivam Dube, made the opportunity count to set up a six-wicket win over Afghanistan in the first T20 of the three-match series here on Thursday.
A lively 68-run partnership off 43 balls between the seasoned Mohammad Nabi (42 off 27) and youthful Azmatullah Omarzai (29 off 22) lifted Afghanistan to 158 for five after India dominated the powerplay.
The total posted was not enough in good batting conditions as India got home comfortably in 17.3 overs.
Dube (60 not out), playing his first T20 since the Asian Games, and Tilak Varma (26 off 22) shared a 44-run stand off 29 balls to give Indian innings momentum after losing the openers inside four overs.
Rohit Sharma (0), returning to T20s after 14 months, and Shubman Gill (23) got involved in an avoidable mix-up that limited the Indian skipper's stay to just two balls. The usually calm and cool Rohit did not hide his anger on this occasion as Gill did not pay heed to his call for a quick single.
Gill was not able to stay for long but Varma and Dube were able to take the innings forward and India did not look back from there on.
Dube, who is seen as a back up to injury prone Hardik Pandya, used his long levers efficiently and his disdainful drives on the off side stood out. He ended the game in style with a straight six and four in the fine leg region.
Jitesh Sharma (31 off 20) also gave a good account of himself before Rinku Singh (16 not out off 9) joined Dube in the middle and took the team home.
Earlier, a stroke-filled partnership between Nabi and Omarzai was just what Afghanistan needed after India reduced the visitors to 57 for three in 10 overs amid chilly conditions at the PCA Stadium.
Openers Rahamanullah Gurbaz (23 off 28) and skipper Ibrahim Zadran (25 off 22) could only find four boundaries in the powerplay.
The start of the game was delayed by a few minutes as a flickering blue light around the sightscreen distracted Gurbaz.
Pacer Arshdeep Singh opened the innings with a maiden before the spinners got into the game as early as the fourth over.
Axar Patel, who ended up as the stand out bowler for India with figures of 4-0-23-2, had Gurbaz stumped with a fast and straight delivery after the opener slog swept him for a six.
Zadran was the next to depart as he smashed an innocuous ball from Dube straight to India skipper Rohit Sharma at cover. It was only the second ball of his opening spell.
Rahmat Shah, making his T20 debut after playing 106 ODIs for Afghanistan, chopped on to stumps a flatter one from Axar.
Afghanistan badly needed a move on and that came via the experience of Nabi and Omarzai, who had impressed with his all-round abilities in the ODI World Cup in India.
While the top-order struggled to rotate strike, Omarzai and Nabi showed their teammates how to build a T20 innings.
Both targeted Ravi Bishnoi and Mukesh Kumar in the middle overs.
Nabi's back-to-back sixes off Mukesh stood out in his quickfire knock. He first made room to smash him over extra cover and waited still for the second ball to dispatch it over mid-wicket.
Najibullah Zadran (19 not out off 11) and Karim Janat (9 not out off 5) took the total past 150.
India dropped three catches in the biting cold of Mohali. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was unavailable for selection due to a sore right groin.
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KCOCA invoked against two accused in land dispute murder case
Udupi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Police have invoked provisions of the stringent KCOCA against two people in connection with a series of violent crimes, including murder, arising out of a prolonged land dispute in this district, officials said on Monday.
According to police, section 3 of the KCOCA was invoked after an assessment revealed the accused persons' - gangster Kali Yogish and alleged land shark Yogish Acharya- alleged involvement in multiple serious offences over a sustained period.
Accused Yogish has been arrested and remanded to judicial custody by a special KCOCA court in Mysuru, while gangster Kali, who is absconding, is believed to be residing abroad.
The case dates back to December 2022, when Kaup police registered an assault case against the accused duo and their associates for allegedly attacking a person identified as Chandrashekhar and others following a dispute over land ownership.
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The conflict escalated in March 2023 with the murder of a person identified as Sharath Shetty. Police said Shetty was allegedly killed for refusing to support Yogish and for assisting Chandrashekar in the land dispute.
A murder case was registered at Kaup police station, with Chandrashekar cited as a key witness in both cases.
Police further stated that on October 20, 2025, Chandrashekar received a threat at around 8.15 pm, warning him against deposing in court. He was allegedly asked to resolve a financial dispute with Yogish Acharya and threatened with death if he failed to comply.
Based on his complaint, a case was registered under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The investigation was supervised by Assistant Superintendent of Police, Karkala subdivision, Harsha Priyamvada.
Accused Yogish Acharya was initially arrested on October 24, 2025, and later released on bail. He was subsequently re-arrested after the invocation of KCOCA and remanded to judicial custody, police said.
