June 6 – India’s KL Rahul and Shubman Gill scored centuries against Afghanistan on Saturday as the home side batted into a dominant position and ended the opening day of the one-off test on 368-3. India, playing their first test versus Afghanistan since hosting the visitors in their first-ever test in 2018, won the toss and opted to bat at the New PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh. The match came after a quick turnaround for many of India’s players from their Indian Premier League campaigns,
with several members of the national team having played in last week’s final, and some signs of rust were evident in the early stages. The openers struggled for fluency in the opening session and Rahul was handed a major reprieve in the 11th over when a clear edge went unreviewed by the visitors, despite vociferous appeals from fielder Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Replays later confirmed Rahul would have been dismissed, and the 34-year-old made the most of his lifeline, combining for a 139-run partnership with Sai Sudharsan
after opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed by Mohammad Saleem for 24. That partnership ended when Saleem took his second wicket, getting Sudharsan out for 81 with a delivery that carried through to wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai, who took a superb diving catch. Rahul then featured in a 67-run third-wicket partnership with captain Gill, who contributed 39 runs and helped see his teammate to a 12th test century – brought up in 165 balls. However, Rahul was dismissed off the very next ball by Ziaur Rahman after
being caught at extra cover, finishing on exactly 100 runs for his third test century in a row. “I’m really happy that I could get some time in the middle. To make that switch from T20 to test cricket in a matter of a couple of days was the most pleasing thing,” Rahul said. “It was extremely hot, I was exhausted . I had to make that switch of letting the ball go and getting used to the conditions. Training did help a lot. I
did feel the urge to play a shots and I don’t think it is a bad thing. “It’s something I have been telling myself as well. Sometimes you sit and over analyse. I try to not restrict my shots. I played a few more shots in the morning than I would usually do but it didn’t frustrate me.” Gill (103) soldiered on alongside Rishabh Pant (50) and the pair kept their foot on the gas to take India past the 350-run mark, before the India
captain reached the 11th test century of his career right before the end of play. For India, the match is a chance to build some confidence ahead of series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand this year, after a difficult couple of years in test cricket which have included losses to the Kiwis, South Africa and Australia. REUTERS
India vs Afghanistan, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, one-off Test, 368-3, New PCA Stadium, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Afsar Zazai