IND vs AFG: India took control of the opening day of the one-off Test against Afghanistan. Batting first, India posted 368 for 3 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium in Mullanpur. At the close of play, Gill remained unbeaten on 103 and Rishabh Pant on 50. Earlier, KL Rahul made 100 and Sai Sudharshan made 81. For Afghanistan, Saleem Safi took two wickets. Ziaur Rahman Sharifi took one wicket.
India didn’t have a good start. Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for 24 off 32 balls, leaving the team at 41. KL Rahul and Sai Sudarshan then steadied the innings, adding 139 runs for the second wicket. Sudarshan scored 81 off 104 balls, including 13 fours. Sudarshan and Jaiswal were dismissed by Saleem Safi.
KL Rahul’s 12th Test century
After Sudarshan’s dismissal, Rahul and captain Gill steadied the innings. They added 67 runs for the third wicket. Rahul scored his 12th century, reaching 100 off 165 balls. His innings included 11 fours. However, he couldn’t convert his century into a big one, being caught by wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz off the bowling of Ziaur Rahman Sharifi.
After Rahul’s dismissal, Rishabh Pant batted aggressively. He hit three sixes in an over bowled by Abdul Malik. Meanwhile, Gill reached his 11th Test century off 138 balls. Just before the end of the day’s play, Pant also reached his half-century off 70 balls. The two batsmen shared an unbeaten 121-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Playing XI of both the teams:
India: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.
Afghanistan: Sediqullah Atal, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicketkeeper), Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Afsar Zazai, Azmatullah Umarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Nangialai Kharoti, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi and Mohammad Salim Safi.
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