Afghanistan bowlers came back after a poor start to leave India at 347/6 on Day 1 of their maiden Test match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Winning the toss, stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane opted to bat first on the spin-friendly track. India's openers responded with a solid 168 run partnership. Shikhar Dhawan (107 off 96) became the first batsman to score a century before lunch as India dominated the opening session.
Soon after his ton, Dhawan was dismissed when he was caught at slip by Nabi of Ahmadzai. Vijay then forged a 112 run partnership with K.L. Rahul, before he too was dismissed trapped LBW off Wafadar. Rahul was dismissed soon after when he chopped one back onto his stumps of Ahmadzai.
Inconsistent rain added to Afghanistan's woes early in the day as the team struggled to dismiss Dhawan and Vijay. Spinners Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahaman failed to impress early on, going at over six an over when Dhawan was at the crease. While Rashid managed to trouble the batsman with his variations, Mujeeb seemed unimpressive as he was hit all over the park.
Post the tea session, Afghanistan's bowlers came back strongly with three quick wickets, Rashid and Mujeeb taking one each and Karthik getting run out. At the close of play, Pandya and Ashwin remained standing giving India a hope of touching the 400 run mark.
For Afghanistan, the post-tea session will provide a lot of inspiration as they look to build on their performance tomorrow. Play is scheduled to resume at 9:30 AM IST.
India squad: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, K.L. Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Chateshwar Pujara, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav
Afghanistan squad: Mohammed Shahzad, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Stanikzai, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Mohammed Nabi, Rashid Khan, Yamin Ahmadzai, Wafadar, Mujeeb Ur Rahaman
Brief Scores
India: 347/6 [Dhawan- 107 (96), Vijay- 105 (153), Ahmadzai (32-2)]
