India vs Afghanistan one-off Test in Mullanpur Day 1 updates

An air of inevitability enveloped the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium on day one of the one-off Test between India and Afghanistan once Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to bat. On a benign strip exposed to the scorching sun on Saturday, the host was presented with a gift-wrapped opportunity to rack up a heap of runs and make Afghanistan’s inexperienced attack toil.

With the exception of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was dismissed for 24, India’s batters took advantage. While K.L. Rahul brought up his 12th Test hundred, Gill ended the day unbeaten on 103 to guide India to 368 for three at stumps. Sai Sudharsan and Rishabh Pant registered brisk half-centuries. Pant, unbeaten on 50, got going by smashing off-spinner Abdul Malik for three sixes in an over.

Gill and Pant unfurled a range of free-flowing strokes after Rahul and Sai Sudharsan stitched together a 139-run alliance for the second wicket.

Never mind that Rahul’s innings wouldn’t count among his most elegant. Even accounting for his recent idiosyncrasy of tucking the bat behind the front pad whilst leaving the ball, there were a few instances early on when he appeared uncertain in the channel outside off-stump. But as he spent more time at the crease, he became more authoritative against the spinners, who barely posed a threat even though a few deliveries took turn.

Contrary to Rahul’s shaky beginning, Gill was all class from the moment he took guard. Some sumptuous drives and his signature pull stood out in his 11th Test ton.

Despite the limitations of Afghanistan’s bowlers, they had opportunities to dismiss Rahul and Sai Sudharsan cheaply. In the 11th over, Rahul was on 16 when he attempted a cut off Ziaur Rahman. As the ball nestled into Afsar Zazai’s gloves, Afghanistan’s players screamed in unison for a caught-behind appeal. But they didn’t have enough conviction to request a review, which proved to be a costly error, as replays showed a clear edge.

Sai Sudharsan was dropped on 20 by Rahmanullah Gurbaz at slip in left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote’s first over. In the southpaw’s maiden series in England last year, he had displayed an exasperating tendency to be caught on the on-side, but he was in no such trouble here. Having hit a flurry of boundaries through the leg-side, he raced to his half-century off 67 balls. But the three-figure mark eluded him. On 81, he edged a full delivery from Mohammad Saleem to Zazai behind the stumps.

Brief scores:

India: 368/3 in 85 overs (Shubman Gill 103 batting, KL Rahul 100, Rishabh Pant 50 batting, Sai Sudharsan 81; Mohammed Saleem 2/67).