Explained: Why India-Afghanistan Test ended with only nine wickets down
Photo/Agencies India completed their biggest victory in Test cricket on Monday, defeating Afghanistan by an innings and 300 runs in the one-off Test in Mullanpur.After
Photo/Agencies India completed their biggest victory in Test cricket on Monday, defeating Afghanistan by an innings and 300 runs in the one-off Test in Mullanpur.After declaring their first innings at 564/8 on Day 2, India bowled Afghanistan out for 152 and enforced the follow-on. The visitors then folded for 112 in their second innings during the final session on Day 3, bringing the match to an early finish.Debutant left-arm spinner Manav Suthar played a key role in Afghanistan's first-innings collapse, returning figures of 6/33.
In the second innings, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav shared seven wickets as India sealed the record win.There was a brief moment of confusion after the fall of Afghanistan's ninth wicket, with India appearing to have completed the victory. It was later confirmed that Sharafuddin Ashraf was unable to bat because of a leg injury sustained earlier in the match. Ashraf had been seen limping during Afghanistan's first innings.Resuming on the third day, Afghanistan were bowled out for 152 in 58.4 overs in response to India's 564/8 declared.Rahmat Shah offered some resistance with 60, registering his sixth half-century in Test cricket.Prasidh Krishna gave India an early breakthrough in the morning session, dismissing Azmatullah Omarzai for a duck after the batter inside-edged the ball onto his stumps.Rahmat and Sharafuddin Ashraf then added 24 runs for the seventh wicket, with Ashraf contributing 11.
Rahmat reached his fifty with a boundary before Suthar broke the partnership by trapping Ashraf lbw.Suthar then removed Rahmat to complete a five-wicket haul on Test debut. Three balls later, he trapped Mohammad Saleem Safi lbw
for a duck as Afghanistan's innings quickly came to an end.India maintained the pressure after enforcing the follow-on and wrapped up the match on the third day to register the largest winning margin in their Test history.
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