The Indian team reaffirmed their status as the top-ranked team in Test cricket after they ruthlessly defeated the debutants Afghanistan in less than two days in Bengaluru.
After India were bowled out for 474 in the first session on Day 2, the home side became the first side in the world to take 20 wickets in a day’s play. They are also the first Asian side to win a Test match in two days.
After Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan starred with centuries in the batting department, it was the spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who picked up 11 wickets together.
India’s win – by a margin of an innings and 262 runs – would be India’s biggest in Test cricket history.
Scheduled as a regular 5-day affair, the Test match in Bengaluru lasted a little under two full days – making it the shortest completed Test match to be played in India. In total – across three innings, only 171.2 overs were bowled to achieve a result.
And much of the early finish to the Test match was due to the Indian bowlers dismissing the opposition twice in the same day. The Indian bowlers only needed 27.5 overs to dismiss the Afghanistan batsmen in the first innings.
After enforcing the follow-on, the Indian bowlers once again bundled out the visitors - this time taking 38.4 overs. Afghanistan’s two totals – 109 and 103 – would be the two lowest totals made by teams in Test matches in Bengaluru.
In all, a total of 24 wickets fell on the second day – which was a record for the most wickets to fall on one particular day in a Test match in India. In the morning session, India lost their remaining four wickets, after which Afghanistan were bundled out twice in quick succession.
For Afghanistan, it was a rude initiation to Test cricket; across both their innings, they only batted for a total of 399 deliveries – the fewest batted by any of the 12 Test teams in their debut match.
Afghanistan’s defeat – by a margin of an innings and 262 runs – would also be the biggest defeat suffered by any team making their Test debut. Prior to them, only Pakistan and West Indies had lost by an innings.
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