Talking Points: Debuts, auditions and a captain in control

Gurnoor Brar looks the part

India's first ODI after the T20 World Cup brought a debut cap for Gurnoor Brar, the 6ft 5in left-arm quick from Punjab who fits the profile India seem to be collecting ahead of next year's World Cup in South Africa. Sharing the new ball with Arshdeep Singh, he struck in his first over and finished with 3 for 27.

The pace was regularly in the high 140s but what stood out was his willingness to pitch the ball up from that height. Unlike Prasidh Krishna's largely back-of-a-length approach, Brar looked comfortable attacking the stumps and searching for movement. With only nine List A appearances across five years, India picked him more on potential than pedigree, and on first viewing, there was enough to suggest they might be onto something.

Harsh Dubey gets the full debut experience

For a left-arm spinning all-rounder, there are smaller shoes to fill than Ravindra Jadeja's and easier places to debut than a rain-reduced game in Dharamsala. After receiving his India cap, Harsh Dubey lived through the full spectrum of a debut. He went from 0 for 26 in his first two-over spell to changing ends and eventually finishing with 3 for 47, even earning praise from captain Shubman Gill for "continuing to toss the ball up".

Much before he got the ball in hand, he had already held onto a sharp catch running backwards from midwicket, ticking quite a lot of boxes in his first ever ODI for India.

Ishan gets first crack at No. 3

Before the series, bowling coach Morne Morkel had suggested India could "play around with" the No. 3 position in Virat Kohli's absence. The first permutation is here. When Rohit fell, it was Ishan Kishan who walked out in what was his first ODI in nearly 2.5 years, a period that saw him lose his place in all India squads and even his central contract.

His 34 off 22 in Dharamsala crucially helped India maintain momentum after the field spread but the bigger takeaway was in the role he was assigned. KL Rahul, India's incumbent wicketkeeper in the format, batted at No. 5 and looked every bit settled there, but it was Kishan who got both the No. 3 slot and the gloves.

Rohit plays, Jaiswal waits

It was a slightly odd visual before the game. As Gurnoor Brar and Harsh Dubey received their ODI caps, Yashasvi Jaiswal stood in the background applauding. A few minutes later, Rohit Sharma walked out to open the batting, and at 39, became the oldest man to play an ODI for India. His innings lasted 16 balls but managed to pack in plenty: a blow on the wrist while taking on the short ball, a crisp back-foot punch through cover, a six that took him past 16,000 international runs and eventually a run-out after being sent back by non-striker Shubman Gill.

For now, Rohit's place remains secure but with 40 approaching faster than the next ODI World Cup, which is still a little over a year away, every innings he plays is also another one Jaiswal watches from the sidelines.

Gurbaz single-handedly carries Afghanistan

It was a slow start and a sluggish finish to Afghanistan's innings but the middle phase belonged almost entirely to them, thanks to Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Given a reprieve when India chose not to review an LBW appeal on 14, Gurbaz bided his time before going after India's first and second-change bowlers, particularly Prasidh Krishna, Harsh Dubey and Washington Sundar. His 48-ball hundred was the fastest by an Afghanistan batter and the second-fastest against India in ODIs.

Naturally, it was his wicket that changed the game. "When Gurbaz was playing, I was feeling that if we scored 220, 230, that might be a good target," said captain Hashmatullah Shahidi after the loss, "but we gave some back-to-back wickets and after that, we were short of almost 30 runs, I think."

Captaincy continues to suit Gill

The numbers alone would have made it a good day. Shubman Gill became the second-fastest batter by innings to 3000 ODI runs and finished unbeaten on 84 off 66 balls, but what stood out was how comfortable he looked doing it all. Whether it was the sharp one-handed catch at slip off Harsh Dubey, the calmness with which he handled DRS calls or the way he paced the chase, Gill looked like someone enjoying captaincy.

This was only his seventh ODI as India's captain, but he already seems to be settling into the role naturally. And perhaps that's showing in his batting too. There was no rush, no attempt to dominate every passage of play. Instead, he stuck to the template that has brought him so much success. "In batting, it's about finding the gaps and rotating the strike," Gill would say post match.

Nitish takes his chance, for now

Nitish Kumar Reddy did not get a chance to bat but, on this evening, the bigger audition in Hardik Pandya's absence was always going to be with the ball. He entered the attack as India's sixth bowling option and at a point when Afghanistan were threatening to take the game away with a century partnership.

His first ball even disappeared for six but Nitish went on to break the stand with a pinpoint yorker that rattled Gurbaz's middle stump and later removed Mohammad Nabi with another very full delivery. By the end of the night, his figures read 2 for 31 from four overs and, for now at least, he has done little to hurt his case.