India remained in control of the one-off Test against Afghanistan after a strong opening session on Day 2 in Chandigarh, despite the visitors taking three wickets. At lunch, India were 475-6, having added 107 runs in the morning session at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium.
Afghanistan’s Mohammed Saleem led the fightback by taking two wickets to finish the session with 4-109. He dismissed India captain Shubman Gill for 126, ending a fluent innings that included 15 fours and a six. Gill had resumed after scoring a century on Day 1 and had helped maintain India’s dominance in the match. India had ended the first day at 368-3 after winning the toss and choosing to bat.
Gill shared a key 169-run partnership with Rishabh Pant for the fourth wicket, putting the hosts firmly in command. Pant then added a quick 36 runs with Dhruv Jurel, but Afghanistan struck again in a short burst that removed both set batters. Saleem bowled Jurel for 19 to claim his fourth wicket, while Pant was caught at the boundary for 8 after trying to accelerate the scoring.
After those dismissals, Washington Sundar was unbeaten on 14 and debutant Manav Suthar was not out on 9 at the interval, helping India extend their total beyond 475.
The match is only the second Test ever played between India and Afghanistan. India also hosted Afghanistan’s first Test, in Bengaluru, where the home side won by an innings and 262 runs. In this contest too, India have built a commanding position early, with their top order and middle order producing strong performances on a pitch that has so far offered little relief to the bowlers.
Afghanistan will hope their early wickets can help them slow India’s scoring and reduce the size of the first-innings total, but India’s batting depth still leaves them in a powerful position. With more wickets in hand and several lower-order batters remaining, the hosts will look to push the score even higher and place further pressure on Afghanistan in the rest of the Test.
