On This Day in 2018: India beat Afghanistan by an innings and 262 runs, then India's biggest Test win
On This Day in 2018: India beat Afghanistan by an innings and 262 runs, then India's biggest Test win
Admin
Today, 14 June will always be a special day in Afghanistan cricket as it was the day when their side took on India for their first-ever Test match. The one-off Test in 2018 took place at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. However, the contest turned out to be completely one-sided affair as a rampant India wiped off Afghanistan to register a win in just two days. It was then their biggest ever win in Test history.
India batted first and the opening combination of Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan started their innings with a lot of confidence. They raced to their respective centuries and never allowed the Afghanistan bowlers to settle down. While Vijay scored 105 runs off 153 deliveries, Dhawan bossed the bowling with a superb 107 runs in just 96 balls.
Hardik Pandya played a superb knock of 71 runs off 94 balls, while KL Rahul chipped in with 54 off 64. These contributions powered India to 474 runs in the first innings.
In response, Afghanistan crumbled against a persistent Indian bowling attack. R Ashwin was the wrecker-in-chief as he picked up four wickets. Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma picked up two wickets each while Umesh Yadav bagged one wicket. Afghanistan were bundled out for 109 runs and were asked to follow on.
Their second innings was even worse as none of their batters could offer any resistance against the Indian bowlers. Only Hashmullah Shahidi hung in and remained unbeaten on 36. In the second innings, Ravindra Jadeja picked up four wickets while Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav picked up 2 and 3 wickets respectively.
After the match, Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane invited the entire Afghanistan side to pose for a combined photograph to mark a memorable occasion for the side. For his blistering ton, Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan was named player of the match.
