mohammad saleem did not stop India from piling up 368 for 3 on Day 1 of the Only Test in Mullanpur. KL Rahul made 100, Shubman Gill finished 103 not out and India went to stumps after 85 overs with Afghanistan already under heavy pressure.
India’s total was built on three half-centuries and two hundreds, with Sai Sudharsan adding 81 at No. 3. Afghanistan had some early reward through a tight plan against the openers, but the innings settled once Rahul and Gill took control.
Rahul’s reprieve in Mullanpur
The turning point came in the 11th over, when Rahul was given not out before Ultraedge showed a nick. He later moved into the forties after lunch by hitting two boundaries in the first over back, and his hundred helped carry India far beyond the 104 they had at lunch.
Gill stayed there at the end with 103 not out. His innings gave India a second century in the same knock, and it left Afghanistan with no way back once the wicket flattened out in the second and third sessions.
Saleem and Ziaur Rahman
Mohammed Saleem took two wickets for Afghanistan and Ziaur Rahman added one. Those were the only breakthroughs for the visitors, even after they had some success early on with a strict plan against the top order.
That brief control did not last. Sudharsan reached his fifty with a hat-trick of boundaries, and the scoring kept moving through the middle of the day as India turned a cautious start into a commanding first-innings total.
Afghanistan’s red-ball test
Afghanistan first played India in a Test in 2018, and this was another rough lesson 12 Tests later. The visitors spent a hot, tiring day trying to hold shape in the field while India kept building toward 368 for 3.
For Afghanistan, the immediate task is simple: find a way to force a response after letting two top-order centuries and an 81 run away from them. India begin from a position of control, and the scoreboard now puts every move on the visitors.
