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- IND vs AFG Live Score, One-Off Test Match Day 1: Sai Sudharsan falls for 81, KL Rahul leads India's run charge against Afghanistan
IND vs AFG Live Score, One-Off Test Match Day 1: Sai Sudharsan falls for 81, KL Rahul leads India's run charge against Afghanistan
India fielded six left-handed batters in the playing XI, only the third time they have done so, having previously featured the same number of southpaws in both Tests against South Africa last year. However, Afghanistan's seamers ensured the hosts had to work hard for their runs on a surface that offered little assistance to the bowlers.
Following Shubman Gill's decision to bat first, openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul laid a solid foundation. Jaiswal set the tone with a boundary in the first over but was unable to convert his start into a bigger contribution. Mohammad Saleem Safi provided Afghanistan with the breakthrough on the final ball of the 12th over, inducing an edge behind from the left-hander, who made 24 from 32 balls.
Sai Sudharsan, entrusted with a longer rope at No. 3, made an assured start and joined Rahul in blunting the Afghanistan attack. The pair stitched together an unbeaten stand of 55 runs from 78 deliveries, frustrating the visitors after the early success.
At the break, Rahul was batting on 37 and Sudharsan on 32, with India comfortably placed at 96/1 after 25 overs. Saleem Safi's dismissal of Jaiswal remained Afghanistan's lone reward for an otherwise disciplined effort with the ball.
Playing XIs:
India XI: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (w), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Afghanistan XI: Sediqullah Atal, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Afsar Zazai (w), Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Nangeyalia Kharote, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi, Mohammad Saleem Safi.
Ziaur Rahman to KL Rahul, Full and on the pads, drifting down the leg side. KL Rahul gets inside the line and flicks this to fine leg for one.
Ziaur Rahman to KL Rahul, Hard length, around off, KL Rahul solidly blocks this out.
Ziaur Rahman to KL Rahul, Right in the channel, around off, KL Rahul rocks back and across and blocks this out.
Sharafuddin Ashraf is down on the ground in pain. The physio is out to have a look. Looks like he hurt himself after putting the dive on the previous ball. Not a good sign for Afghanistan as Ashraf is going off the field with the physio.
- Sai Sudharsan 55 (75)
- KL Rahul 59 (98)
Hashmatullah Shahidi to Sai Sudharsan, Slightly side arm from Hashmatullah Shahidi, a tad full and on off. Sai Sudharsan dabs this past the left of Sharafuddin Ashraf at first slip. Ashraf remains down on the ground, maybe because of the fall. Nonetheless, the team physio rushes out in the middle.
Hashmatullah Shahidi to Sai Sudharsan, Beaten all ends up. Drifts one in again, around off, turning it away from the southpaw after pitching. Sai Sudharsan this time plays at it, looking to block this off his front foot but gets beaten on the outside edge.
Hashmatullah Shahidi to KL Rahul, Flighted around off, KL Rahul gently rolls his wrists and flicks this to long on for one. A 100-run partnership comes up between Sai and KL.
Hashmatullah Shahidi to Sai Sudharsan, A tad short this time, around off, Sai Sudharsan rocks back and punches this towards sweeper cover for a single.
Hashmatullah Shahidi to Sai Sudharsan, A bit of drift back into the batter and the ball turns away after pitching. Sai Sudharsan doesn't poke at it.
Hashmatullah Shahidi to Sai Sudharsan, Shahidi comes around the stumps and bowls this full and wide outside off. Sai leaves it.
Hashmatullah Shahidi brings himself on for his off-breaks.
- KL Rahul 58 (97)
- Sai Sudharsan 54 (70)
Ziaur Rahman to KL Rahul, Good length, around off, tailing a long way back into the batter. KL Rahul tucks this to mid-wicket for a dot.
Ziaur Rahman to KL Rahul, Full and wide outside off, KL Rahul gives it a good look and leaves it all alone.
After multiple attempts to trim the loose seam and tidy up the ball, the umpires have decided to change it. The fourth umpire is out with the box of balls. The replacement has been picked, and we are all good to go.
Ziaur Rahman to KL Rahul, Ziaur bowls it full and in the line of the stumps. KL Rahul defends this off his front foot.
Ziaur Rahman to KL Rahul, FOUR! Nicely guided. Fuller in length, outside off. Rahul lets the ball come to him and plays the late dab by opening the face of the bat. He steers it through the vacant gully region for a boundary.
Ziaur Rahman to KL Rahul, Not as wide as the previous ball but still wide enough and the length stays short. Rahul plays the cut to the right of deep point. Abdul Malik sprints and dives to his right to save a couple of runs for his side.
Ziaur Rahman (6-2-20-0) is back.
Ziaur Rahman to KL Rahul, Missed out! Short and wide on off, there to be put away. Rahul presses back for the cut but is early into the shot and ends up chopping it beside the strip on the off side.
- Sai Sudharsan 54 (70)
- KL Rahul 52 (91)
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, Full and on the pads, Sai Sudharsan flicks this to mid-wicket.
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, Quicker one, on the pads, Sai Sudharsan tucks this to short leg.
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, FOUR! Third boundary on the trot for Sai Sudharsan. Flighted around off, Sudharsan comes quickly onto his front foot, hits the ball on the half-volley and drives this through the covers region for four more runs.
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, FOUR! That brings up a 3rd Test half-century for Sai Sudharsan. Low full toss, around off, Sudharsan stands tall and works this through the mid-wicket region, and the ball has raced to the fence for four more runs. Sai has carried his form from IPL into the red-ball format.
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, FOUR! This is well swept for a boundary. Flighted, onto the pads, Sai Sudharsan goes down on a knee and sweeps this behind square for a boundary towards deep backward square leg.
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, Fuller on the pads, Sai Sudharsan works this to mid-wicket.
- KL Rahul 52 (91)
- Sai Sudharsan 42 (64)
Azmatullah Omarzai to KL Rahul, Hard length, around off, KL gets onto his front foot and blocks this on the off side.
Azmatullah Omarzai to KL Rahul, Azmat bowls it within the sticks, on middle and off, on a good length. KL Rahul blocks this one.
Azmatullah Omarzai to KL Rahul, Slower one, around off, on a length. KL Rahul gets behind the line of the ball and keeps it out. This came off the inner half of Rahul's bat.
Azmatullah Omarzai to KL Rahul, Good length, around the pads, KL Rahul nudges this to the deep mid-wicket region for a couple.
Azmatullah Omarzai to Sai Sudharsan, Azmatullah goes full and keeps this one within the sticks. Sai Sudharsan flicks this through mid-wicket's right for one.
Azmatullah Omarzai to Sai Sudharsan, On a length, going across the batter, around his off stump. Sai Sudharsan leaves it.
- KL Rahul 50 (87)
- Sai Sudharsan 41 (62)
Nangeyalia Kharote to KL Rahul, Tossed up, on the pads, KL Rahul strides out in front and dead bats it.
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, Fuller on the pads, Sai Sudharsan milks this through short fine leg for a single.
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, Tossed up, around off, Sai Sudharsan defends this off his front foot.
Nangeyalia Kharote to KL Rahul, FIFTY FOR RAHUL, his 21st half-century in Test cricket. Tossed up, around off, KL Rahul flashes, and the outside edge flies past the man at slip before he can even react. It goes down to the third man region for a single. After getting lucky with the edge not given and not reviewed, KL has done well to reach his half-century.
The ball has gotten scuffed up, and Richard Illingworth has called the Afghanistan captain over for a chat. A quick word between the two before the umpire takes out the scissors and trims a few loose threads from the seam.
Nangeyalia Kharote to KL Rahul, Tossed up, on the pads, KL Rahul tucks this towards short leg.
Nangeyalia Kharote to KL Rahul, Tossed up, around off, KL Rahul moves away to his leg side and drives this well but straight to extra cover.
- Sai Sudharsan 40 (60)
- KL Rahul 49 (83)
Azmatullah Omarzai to Sai Sudharsan, Good length, around the pads, Sai Sudharsan flicks this close to his body and off his pads through square leg for a brace.
Azmatullah Omarzai to KL Rahul, Short one, around off, KL Rahul swivels inside and keeps the hook down for a single to fine leg.
Azmatullah Omarzai to KL Rahul, Back of a length, around off, KL Rahul pats this to point.
Azmatullah Omarzai to Sai Sudharsan, Good length, around the pads, Sai Sudharsan nudges this to fine leg for a single.
Azmatullah Omarzai to Sai Sudharsan, Hard length, around off, Sai defends this off his back foot.
Azmatullah Omarzai to Sai Sudharsan, Sai made that block look a bit awkward, to say the least. On a length, going across the batter. Sai Sudharsan doesn't move his feet much but blocks this. The ball bumps into the deck and hits the bat again. Sai Sudharsan gestures that this kept low.
- Sai Sudharsan 37 (56)
- KL Rahul 48 (81)
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, Fired onto the pads, Sai Sudharsan flicks this through mid on for an easy single.
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, Quicker one, on the pads, Sai Sudharsan nudges this towards short leg.
Nangeyalia Kharote to KL Rahul, Tossed up, on off, KL Rahul gets close to the pitch of the ball, gently dabs this in front of cover-point and takes a sharp single.
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, Speared in at the pads, Sai Sudharsan milks this through square leg for one.
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, Fuller on the pads this time, Sai Sudharsan tucks this gently to the fine leg region for a couple.
Nangeyalia Kharote to Sai Sudharsan, Excitement around the bat! Where did that come off? Fuller, down the leg side. Sai Sudharsan goes for a sweep but misses completely. The ball lobs off Sai's forearm and drops to the left of the man at short leg, who was ducking to get out of the way.
After captain Shubman Gill opted to bat, India made a positive start through Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rahul. Jaiswal got off the mark with a crisp boundary off Ziaur Rahman Sharifi in the opening over, but Afghanistan's bowlers maintained tight lines and prevented the hosts from scoring freely.
The visitors earned a deserved breakthrough in the 12th over when Mohammad Saleem Safi induced an edge from Jaiswal, who departed for 24 off 32 balls after a promising start. The dismissal brought Sai Sudharsan to the crease, and the left-hander quickly settled in alongside the experienced Rahul.
The duo ensured there were no further setbacks before lunch, adding an unbeaten 55 runs for the second wicket from 78 deliveries. Rahul looked composed on 37 not out, while Sudharsan was unbeaten on 32 as India reached 96/1 after 25 overs.
Saleem Safi was the lone wicket-taker for Afghanistan, finishing the session with figures of 1/27 as the visitors searched for more breakthroughs.
