India tighten grip on Afghanistan after huge 1st-innings total in New Chandigarh

New Chandigarh: India tightened their grip on the one-off Test against Afghanistan by amassing a mammoth 564 for 8 declared in their first innings and then picking two early wickets with the ball on Day 2 here. Well on top ended the day for the hosts as Afghanistan, both with bat and ball, simply had no answers to India’s batting depth and disciplined bowling attack.

Restarting from a well placed position overnight, India resumed their innings piling the runs on. Captain Shubman Gill moved on from an overnight century, while Rishabh Pant continued his good run in the middle order. They fought hard, however, especially fast bowler Mohammad Saleem, who well-deservedly ended up with the best figures for an Afghan bowler in this innings but still took only six wickets in total. But India piled on the runs – crossing 550 before declaring.

Things had gone badly for Afghanistan from the very beginning of their response. Within the first over of his Test career, debutant left-arm spinner Manav Suthar took a wicket. This was a dream start for the young Indian bowler and created early pressure on Afghanistan.

The Indian bowlers kept things tight for the remainder of the day, constantly getting wickets and not letting Afghanistan build any significant partnerships. India’s varied attack made it tough work for the visitors to score and ended the day sitting in a huge deficit. At the close of play, Afghanistan were still hundreds of runs away from India’s first-innings score with India firmly in control ahead of Day 3.

It was an exhibition of how dominant a side India look in the Reds’ ball-game, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill both scoring tons and putting up enough on the board. Another talking point in Gill’s Test captaincy — and his batting — came as the young skipper once again struck on Day 3.

Afghanistan ended the second day with a huge first-innings lead of 92 and India bowling in command as they targeted an innings victory on day three of the Test.

Read also : Pakistan National Cricket Team vs South Africa National Cricket Team Timeline | Ishan Kishan IPL 2026 Price