Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo.
Venue- M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru [June 2018].
In June 2018, the Afghanistan cricket team traveled to India for a one-off Test match against the Indian cricket team. It was Afghanistan's first Test match since the International Cricket Council (ICC) granted them Test status back in June 2017. However it turned out to be a nightmare as the Indians defeated the Afghanis by an innings and 262 runs and that too in two days' time. Interestingly it is only the fourth time in Test history that a team was dismissed twice in one day. Furthermore, by this win India became the first Asian team to win a Test match in less than two days, and it was also their largest victory in an innings in the history of the format.
On a batting friendly wicket Captain Rahane won the toss and elected to bat first. Riding on the centuries of Vijay and Dhawan, India posted a big score of 474 in their first innings. Apart from Vijay and Dhawan, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya too scored crucial 50s. However, Afghanistan's batsmen collapsed like nine pins in the first innings of the second session of the day, scoring just 109 runs in response to India's 474. R Ashwin claimed four wickets, while Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja finished with two wickets each in the first innings.
The second innings was no different from the first as the Indian bowlers, headed by Jadeja (4/17) and Umesh Yadav (3/26) dismissed the Afghans for just 103 runs, thus ending the match for India in less than two days. Following the game, India's captain, Ajinkya Rahane said that the Afghan team would definitely get better if they play more first-class and Test Matches. The Afghanistan's coach, Phil Simmons, stated that the team was "by no means happy" with their performance but that they would succeed if they continued to work hard.
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