Although going for 5.18 per over, Saleem was one of the few positives for the visitors so far in this Test. Playing only his second Test, he bowled consistently around 140kph in oppressive heat. Having dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and B Sai Sudharsan on Saturday, Saleem had Shubman Gill caught behind for 126 with the second new ball that was about nine overs old by then.
A few overs later, Dhruv Jurel misjudged the line and shouldered arms, only for the ball to hit the top of off stump. Later, Saleem dismissed Manav Suthar and Mohammed Siraj before India declared their innings on 564 for 8.
“He bowled long spells – think every single spell he bowled, he bowled more than four, five, [or] even six overs in one of the spells. You can see he is a tough character.”
“We were exceptionally rusty. Without throwing anybody under the bus, I think there was a lack of conviction in decision-making.”
Pybus on Afghanistan’s reluctance in using DRS
Things could have been much better for Afghanistan had they been less hesitant to use the DRS for close calls. In the fourth over of the day, the 89th of India’s innings, Azmatullah Omarzai pinged Gill on the pads but umpire Sharfuddoula ruled it not out. On the following delivery, Omarzai went up for a caught-behind appeal against Rishabh Pant. Sharfuddoula was once again unmoved. Afghanistan didn’t use the DRS on either occasion. Replays showed both batters were out.
On Saturday, KL Rahul should have been out for 16 had Afghanistan reviewed the caught-behind non-decision. He went on to make 100. Sharfuddoula was the umpire this time as well.
“We were exceptionally rusty,” Pybus said. “Without throwing anybody under the bus, I think there was a lack of conviction in decision-making.
“At the end of the day, the skipper has got a very short period of time to make those decisions. He has got a couple of guys that he is speaking to for the decision-making process. He has got the wicketkeeper, who has to give him his alignment. He has got a point who needs to give him height. And he is reliant on the bowler as well in terms of what the bowler is seeing in front of him. So we chatted about it afterwards because we were obviously way off the pace with that, and it cost us.”
