Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya and spin wizard Ravichandran Ashwin resumed Indian innings on the second day of the one-off Test between India and Afghanistan on Friday. The match is being played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
In the first session of the second day, visitors continued their attack as they removed R Ashwin from the crease early in the day. After Ashwin’s departure, Ravindra Jadeja joined Pandya added 67 runs for the next wicket before the former was removed by Mohammad Nabi. Soon Hardik Pandya followed him after scoring 71 runs off 94 balls.
The last pair of Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma guided India to 474 runs in the first innings. Yadav scored 26 runs off 21 balls and Ishant added 8 runs to the Indian scoreboard.
Earlier on Day One, after being outplayed by India in the first and second sessions of the game, Afghanistan bounced back in the third and last session to end the day. At the end of the first day, India were 347 for 6 in 78 overs as rain twice disrupted the play.
Batting first, Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan, along with Murali Vijay, opened the Indian innings and stitched 168-run partnership for the first wicket.
Dhawan became first Indian cricketer and the sixth overall player to score a ton in the first session of the first day of a Test match. Dhawan scored 107 runs off 96 balls with a strike rate of 111.46. During his innings, he struck 19 fours and three sixes.
However, Afghan bowler Yamin Ahmadzai broke India’s opening partnership by removing Dhawan from the crease in the second over after the lunch break.
Stylish Indian batsman Lokesh Rahul joined Murali Vijay at the crease after Dhawan was removed and took India to 280 for 2 in 51.5 overs. Murali Vijay scored his 12th Test century and KL Rahul scored his 11th half-century in the longest format of the game.
Afghanistan team bounced back in the game after KL Rahul and Murali Vijay were removed in successive overs. Wafadar removed Vijay from the crease and Yamin Ahmadzai sent KL Rahul back to pavilion in the 52nd and 53rd overs of the game, respectively.
After Rahul and Vijay’s dismissals, skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara took charge of the Indian innings and took India to 318 runs after which Rahane was bowled out by teenaged Afgan spinner Rashid Khan.
Cheteshwar Pujara scored 35 runs off 52 balls before he was sent back to the pavilion by Mujeeb Ur Rehmann. Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik scored 4 runs off 22 balls before he was run-out by Nasir Jamal.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya (10 runs off 21 balls) and spin wizard Ravichandran Ashwin (7 runs off 16 balls) were at the crease at the end of the first day’s game.
From Afghanistan, Yamin Ahmadzai bagged three wickets. Wafadar, Rashid Khan took two wickets each and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammed Nabi bagged one wicket each.
Fall of wickets:
India: 168-1 (Shikhar Dhawan, 28.4), 280-2 (Murali Vijay, 51.5), 284-3 (Lokesh Rahul, 52.1), 318-4 (Ajinkya Rahane, 66.3), 328-5 (Cheteshwar Pujara, 69.5), 334-6 (Dinesh Karthik, 74.5), 369-7 (Ravichandran Ashwin, 85.5), 436-8 (Ravindra Jadeja, 98.5), 440-9 (Hardik Pandya, 99.2), 474-10 (Ishant Sharma, 104.5)
Teams:
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Lokesh Rahul, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.
Afghanistan: Mohammad Shahzad, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Stanikzai(c), Afsar Zazai(w), Mohammad Nabi, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Yamin Ahmadzai, Wafadar.