IND vs AFG 2018: Afghanistan Bounces Back After India Dominates First Two Session

What a fine feeling it must be for the Afghanistan team when they had put their first step on the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Afghan team has fought hard and it must have been a special feeling to represent your country in the whites.

However, India dominated first two sessions honors against the debutants. India’s stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. Both the openers scored fine centuries to put hosts noses in front.

Murali Vijay scored 105 whereas his opening partner Dhawan scored a quickfire 107 off just 96 balls. They put together an opening partnership of 168 runs. In fact, Dhawan launched his attack in the very first session.

The southpaw batsman became the first Indian and sixth batsman to score a century before the lunch session on Day one. Meanwhile, Dhawan was in a hurry as he rode his innings in the topmost gear. In fact, Afghanistan bowlers were not able to get any speed breaker in Dhawan’s innings. Thus, it was all about acceleration for the left-hander.

On the other hand, Murali Vijay was cautious in his approach. However, the stylish right-hander opened his shoulders in the second session. Vijay completed his 12th Test hundred as he returned back to form.

KL Rahul was promoted to the number three position. The in-form Karnataka batsman scored a fine half-century but could not go all the way.

However, Afghanistan best spinner Rashid Khan was on the expensive side. The tourists didn’t hit the right length in the first two sessions of the day.

However, the visitors came back strongly in the final session of the day. Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman were able to send back Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara respectively in a quick succession. Dinesh Karthik was unfortunately run-out on just four runs. Afghanistan was able to scalp five wickets in the final session of Day 1.

India ended first-day proceedings on 347 for loss of 6 wickets.