Indian spinners lead India to a commanding win as Afghanistan crumbles under pressure
India – 564/8 (KL Rahul 100, Shubman Gill 126, Rishabh Pant 81, Sai Sudharsan 81, Mohammad Saleem 140/6); Afghanistan – 152 (Rahmat Shah 60, Manav Suthar 33/6); Afghanistan (Follow-on) – 112 (Sediqullah Atal 42, Washington Sundar 36/4)
India win by an innings and 300 runs. Man of the Match – Manav Suthar
The Indian bowlers made short work of the Afghanistan batting lineup, bundling them twice under 100 overs (both innings combined), and dominated the third and final day of the Test match between India and Afghanistan in New Chandigarh.
The inexperienced Afghanistan team were handed a proper drubbing as they were bowled out for 152 in the first innings, with Manav Suthar, the debutant, having a Test match to remember with 33/6 in his 22 overs. India decided to enforce the follow-on and again exposed their opponent in the second innings, bundling them out for 112, with Washington Sundar taking 36/4 this time.
India’s win by an innings and 300 runs displayed the clear gulf between the two sides in this format, both in skill and temperament. They were ruthless in their approach and hardly put a foot wrong throughout the entire match.
The morning started with Suthar and Prasidh, the previous day’s best bowlers, opening the bowling. With 5 wickets already down, Afghanistan needed someone to take responsibility and frustrate the bowlers. Prasidh was right on the money, testing both edges of the bat and got his due soon, as Azmatullah Omarzai, going for an expansive cover drive, inside-edged onto his stumps.
Rahmat Shah, looking the most assured batsman from his team, was stroking the ball well and reached his fifty with a boundary, as Kuldeep made a mess at fine leg, somehow managing to help the ball over the boundary while trying to throw it back in. Rahmat had earlier survived a close LBW shout off Suthar, as the ball had brushed the pad before hitting the bat, but the umpire was unmoved, and the Indians did not go for the review. However, this was an innings of great quality and determination.
Suthar continued from where he had left the earlier day. The nagging line was suffocating the batsmen, and he regularly beat the outside edge. Sharafuddin Ashraf, who was struggling with a groin injury and was unable to read the left-arm spinner, finally edged one to the keeper. The umpire did not give it out, but the Indians were better at using the DRS than their opponents, and Ashraf was confirmed to be out. In his next over, Suthar bowled Rahmat Shah around his legs to pick up a five-for.
Three balls later, Mohammad Saleem was given out LBW, and Suthar had picked up his sixth wicket. The line appeared to be off, and with 9 wickets down and two reviews remaining, the logical thing would have been to call for a review. For some reason Saleem hung around for a bit and then walked back to the pavilion without reviewing. The replay showed that the ball had pitched outside leg and this did nothing to improve Saleem’s mood as he engaged in some animated discussion with his teammates back in the dugout.
Last man Ziaur Rahman was not going to die wondering and launched Suthar’s first ball for a six over long on. Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, looking glad to be back in the Test setup after a forgettable IPL, was at his chirpiest best throughout the match. He goaded Ziaur to go for another big shot against Sundar, and the batsman immediately obliged, slogging one high up in the air. Pant, the smile never leaving his face from the moment the bat hit the ball, took a few steps and completed a comfortable catch.
Afghanistan was dismissed for 152. Manav Sutar’s 33/6 was well complemented by Prasidh Krishna’s 37/3. With a lead of 412 runs, Gill chose to enforce the follow-on and try to finish the match early.
India started by bowling Suthar in the first over. The first ball was a close LBW shout, and the next ball, Sai Sudharsan dropped a difficult chance at forward short leg. After the first two balls, the Afghanistan openers Abdul Malik and Sediqullah Atal batted well enough to get their team to a decent start. Malik edged one hard off Suthar, only to touch Pant’s gloves and wrong-foot Rahul at first slip to go to the boundary. Sediqullah, especially, decided that there was no point defending the left-arm spinner and started using his feet and managing a few hits to the boundary in the process, including one off a reverse sweep.
Siraj, wicketless in the first innings, bowled with great skill as he repeatedly troubled left-hander Sediqullah outside the off stump. After getting a bit frustrated, he finally pinned the right-handed Malik plumb LBW. To make matters worse, Malik immediately went for DRS, and saw the tracker showing three reds and trudged off for 8 runs off 40 balls. Afghanistan was 42/1, and this was their highest partnership of the match.
Next man in, Gurbaz started in one-day mode, reverse sweeping and driving the spinners for boundaries. Kuldeep was hammered over long on for a six. He then got carried away as he tried repeating the same shot in Kuldeep’s next over, but with long on placed precisely for that shot, holed out for an ultimately disappointing run-a-ball 24.
What followed next was yet another calamitous phase of play from the Afghanistan team. At 74/1, they would have been entertaining thoughts of a fightback, but the batsmen just started throwing away their wickets. After Gurbaz fell, the others too started going after off-spinner Sundar and perished one after the other. It was as if someone had told them to be more aggressive in this innings, but forgot to mention to take responsibility for their shots.
Rahmat Shah, so good in the first innings, used his feet to spoon a catch to mid-off. Captain Hashmat was undone by a beautifully flighted delivery by Sundar, to be sharply caught by Gill at first slip. Last ball before tea, Sediqullah, batting with a good temperament, could not control himself and went for a lofted drive off Sundar to offer a simple catch to backward point. The score became 98/5 at Tea, and the fight seemed to have left the Afghan camp.
After the break, Suthar came back to pick up the wicket of Afsar Zazai. Just to wrap up their DRS debacle in this match, Zazai opted for a review only to see the ball hitting the middle of the middle stump. Azmat Omarzai then hoicked one to long on, as Kuldeep kept circling around in confusion, thinking it might go over his head. Eventually, he estimated that the ball was coming straight towards him and managed to hang on to it, and Sundar had his fourth wicket of the innings.
Kuldeep, after a not-so-great time on the field, was bowling noticeably better since getting Gurbaz’s wicket. Bowling his eighth over, he snapped up the last two wickets to finish with three. Washington Sundar was the most successful bowler with figures of 36/4, and Afghanistan were bowled out for 112, with Sharafuddin Ashraf not batting due to injury.
Manav Suthar was the Player of the Match for his bowling impact and useful contribution with the bat. It was a hard lesson for the Afghanistan team as they were completely outplayed and outclassed in all departments. India was professional and did most things right and will be looking with hope towards the future, where much tougher tests await them.