India-Afghanistan early thoughts

Early days in the Afghanistan-India game (well,perhaps not, because Afghanistan are already batting into their 14th over). Noor Ali is an impressive bat; he strokes the ball well, and has some good power and timing. Asghar Stanikzai and him have put on 51 runs in some eight overs; very good going indeed. Whatever happens from here on in, Afghanistan have not disgraced themselves at all. And they still have a chance to cause a few flutters by taking some early Indian wickets.

The contrast between this World Cup game and the IPL couldn't be greater. Everything is much quieter, the PA music system is relatively muted, and of course, the commentators aren't yelling as much (to be fair, commentators can work themselves into a frenzy when the crowd sound is loud and that is not the case here). And this is a day-game, in contrast to IPL games, most of which were at night. Lastly, its nice to see sixes and catches called as that.

I look forward to seeing Afghanistan in a 50-over game.