Agencies
Mullanpur
India scripted their biggest-ever innings victory in Test cricket, crushing Afghanistan by an innings and 300 runs inside three days in the one-off Test here on Monday.
The hosts bettered their previous record of an innings and 260-run win over Afghanistan in 2018 as the visitors were bowled out for 112 in their second innings after being dismissed for 152 in the first.
While the scale of the victory underlined India’s dominance, the emergence of left-arm spinner Manav Suthar was another major takeaway from the contest.
The 23-year-old from Rajasthan finished with match figures of 7 wickets, including a superb 6/33 in the first innings, becoming the 10th Indian bowler to claim a five-wicket haul on Test debut. His performance laid the foundation for India’s overwhelming triumph and strengthened his case as a long-term option in the spin department.
Afghanistan resumed their resistance in the second innings but never looked capable of threatening India’s huge first-innings advantage. Washington Sundar starred with 4/36, while Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with 3/30 as the visitors folded midway through the third day.
Afghanistan’s batting struggled throughout the match, with poor shot selection contributing significantly to their downfall. Left-handed opener Sediqullah Atal top-scored with 42, while Rahmanullah Gurbaz made 24 and Rahmat Shah managed 13, but none of the visitors’ batters were able to mount meaningful resistance.
Atal fell attempting to hit Washington Sundar against the turn, while Gurbaz and Rahmat also perished trying to attack the Indian spinners. The disciplined Indian attack consistently forced errors from an inexperienced batting line-up.
The match ultimately belonged to Suthar, whose control, accuracy and ability to extract both turn and bounce troubled Afghanistan throughout the game. With Ravichandran Ashwin retired and Ravindra Jadeja approaching the latter stages of his Test career, the youngster’s impressive debut offered India a glimpse of a potential successor in the spin department.
Though Afghanistan managed to take the match into the third day, they were thoroughly outplayed as India completed a historic victory and unearthed another promising spin talent in the process.
