New Chandigarh: India continued their dominance in the one-off Test against Afghanistan - declaring at 564/8 in 126 overs and then reduced the visitors to 113/5 at stumps on day two’s play. For India, debutant left-arm spinner Manav Suthar emerged as the standout performer to pick 3-21 in 15.5 overs, as Afghanistan still trail by 451 runs.
On a scorching Sunday, India’s innings was built on skipper and local lad Shubman Gill’s authoritative 126, KL Rahul’s century, Sai Sudharsan’s 81 and Rishabh Pant’s 81 earlier in the day. But the lower-order contributions ensured the hosts had a healthy run-rate of 4.44 and also placed the innings among India’s fourth fastest 500-plus totals in Test history.
The hosts declared after Washington Sundar hit a composed 52 not out, his sixth Test fifty, while Suthar hit two sixes and as many fours to get India past 500 and Mohammed Siraj produced an entertaining cameo of 22 off 12 balls. Captain Shubman Gill declared soon after Sundar reached his fifty, giving his bowlers two full sessions to put Afghanistan under the pump.
Afghanistan’s reply faltered almost immediately. Abdul Malik attempted to counterattack but was undone by Suthar’s sharp turn – on a sweep, he gave a top-edge to backward square leg. After the tea break was over, Prasidh Krishna produced a lovely nip-backer to uproot Sediqullah Atal’s stumps.
Suthar, operating with remarkable control and brisk pace, bowled maiden after maiden to keep the batters on a lid. His accuracy was rewarded again when Rahmanullah Gurbaz nicked to slip, where sharp catch was taken.
Rahmat Shah provided the only semblance of stability for Afghanistan, reaching 43 not out by stumps and becoming the first Afghanistan player to cross 1000 Test runs. Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav also kept the pressure on, ensuring Afghanistan never found rhythm.
His 36-run partnership with Hashmatullah Shahidi briefly steadied the innings. But Prasidh struck again to trap Shahidi lbw, leaving the visitors in deeper trouble. Afsar Zazai’s resistance ended in dramatic fashion as he closed the bat face too early and offered a simple return catch to Suthar, who ended his first day of bowling in Test cricket on a high. Afghanistan, meanwhile, now face a daunting task to avoid follow-on.
In the morning, Gill, resuming from overnight score of 103 not out with authority, extended his innings to a commanding 126 off 177 balls before falling to Mohammad Saleem Safi, who bowled a fiery and disciplined spell with pace and movement with the second new ball.
Pant, who looked equally assured, mixed caution with aggression to reach 81 off 121 balls, apart from sharing a 169-run stand with Gill. But his dismissal to skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi, who also got his first Test wicket, mirrored Sai Sudharsan’s fate from the previous day - both left-handers falling short of centuries after hitting promising fifties. IANS
Scoreboard
India: 1st innings (overnight 368-3)
Shubman Gill c Zazai b Safi 126
Rishabh Pant c Omarzai b Shahidi 81
Dhruv Jurel b Safi 19
Washington Sundar not out 52
Manav Suthar c Zazai b Safi 28
Mohammed Siraj b Safi 22
Kuldeep Yadav not out 9
Extras: 22; Total: 564-8 dec (127)
FOW: Rahul (247-3, 60.2), Gill (416-4, 95.5), Jurel (452-5, 101.5), Pant (456-6, 102.4), Suthar (510-7, 116.5), Siraj (540-8, 120.4)
Bowling
Ziaur Rahman Sharifi 24 2 91 1
Azmatullah Omarzai 22 5 67 0
Mohammad Saleem Safi 27 3 140 6
Nangeyalia Kharote 23 0 115 0 Abdul Malik 7 0 43 0 Hashmatullah Shahidi 24 1 91 1
Afghanistan: 1st innings
Abdul Malik c Siraj b Suthar 16
Sediqullah Atal b Krishna 17
R Gurbazc Sudharsan b Suthar 12
Rahmat Shah not out 43
*Hashmatullah Shahidi lbw b Krishna 20
Afsar Zazai c and b Suthar 3
Extras: 2 ; Total: 113-5 (39.5)
FOW:Abdul Malik (28-1, 5.4), Sediqullah Atal (40-2, 8.4), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (62-3, 19.2), *Hashmatullah Shahidi (98-4, 32.2), Afsar Zazai (113-5, 39.5)
Bowling
Mohammed Siraj 6 1 24 0
Prasidh Krishna 7 0 27 2
Manav Suthar 15.5 7 21 3
Kuldeep Yadav 7 0 29 0
Washington Sundar 4 0 12 0
Indians to take a wicket in their first over in Tests:
Player Opponent Year
Montu Banerjee West Indies 1948
Manohar Hardikar West Indies 1958
Vaman Kumar Pakistan 1961
Chetan Sharma Pakistan 1984
WV Raman West Indies 1988
Nilesh Kulkarni Sri Lanka 1997
Tinu Yohannan England 2001
Manav Suthar Afghanistan 2026
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