India vs Afghanistan, LIVE cricket score, Only Test at Bengaluru, Latest updates: Wafadar is back into the attack and concedes a boundary off the first ball. He also induces an outside edge on the fifth ball but it falls short of the slip fielder. That will be stumps on Day 1! Preview: Statistically, it’s a classic David vs Goliath showdown but contextually, it’s the beginning of a historic new chapter in international cricket as World No 1 India take on a war-ravaged-but-resilient Afghanistan in their first ever Test match on Thursday. While majority of the sports fans, in soul and spirit, will be in Russia enjoying the surreal skills of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the eternal cricket romantic will try to derive his little pleasures of life watching Rashid Khan trying to hurry Shikhar Dhawan with a flipper or bowl a googly to Ajinkya Rahane. There is always a nervous anticipation associated with the performance of a new team but the politico-social narrative associated with Afghanistan gives the game a different context. [caption id=“attachment_4510105” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane (R) and Afghanistan skipper Asghar Stanikzai. Sportzpics[/caption] On the surface, it is just another Test match but it is much beyond that. The Rashids, Mujeeb Zadrans and Mohammed Shahzads would like to put their best foot forward in trying to at least provide their countrymen a refuge in sporting success. India have been Afghanistan’s close allies and the BCCI has shown magnanimity in opening their stadiums so that the national team can practice. But come Thursday, Ajinkya Rahane’s India will not spare an inch as they are expected to put up a ruthless show. No wonder the iconic CLR James line is still so relevant “What do they know of Cricket who only Cricket Know.” India, sans their regular skipper Virat Kohli along with two frontline bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, will look to record a comprehensive win before embarking on their long and gruelling tour of England. For Afghanistan, it will be a battle of attrition that they have never ever faced before. Test cricket is a different beast and Rashid’s real battle starts now. That he is a brilliant four-over bowler, is a known and acknowledged fact. However, the acid Test will start when he bowls that fifth over. The intelligence will be tested during the 15th over, patience during the 23rd over and endurance during the 40th over. More importantly, will Rashid be able to maintain his quick arm speed over after over. As Afghanistan coach Phil Simmons said, his men won’t understand what is Test cricket until they get onto the field. With no pressure of asking rate, a Murali Vijay or a Cheteshwar Pujara, if set, will play at their own pace. The Indian batsmen in their own backyard are not known to pull back punches. Can a 17-year-old Mujeeb, who hasn’t played a single four-day game in his career, trouble a KL Rahul with whom he shared the IPL dressing room at the Kings XI Punjab? This time he won’t have Ravichandran Ashwin’s guidance. Instead, Ashwin might pass on a few valuable inputs to his batsmen on how to tackle Mujeeb. Will Shahzad be able to curb his natural attacking instinct as the five-day format demands different attritional skills? That Afghanistan have no idea how difficult it can get could be gauged from their skipper Asghar Stanikzai’s pompous claims that his spinners are better than the home team. When Dinesh Karthik was asked, his singular statement made it clear what the team thought about it. “Our Kuldeep Yadav (2 Tests) has played more first-class games than all their spinners put together. I know from where its coming but I wouldn’t to harp too much on that,” Karthik said. However, the Indians having watched and played against Rashid will be wary of what he can do. That’s the reason the Indian team management might just prefer a hard bouncy track knowing full well that a rank turner could boomerang on them. The problem with Afghanistan will not be their spinners but their batsmen. How well Shahzad, Mohammed Nabi negotiate Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will have a direct impact on the kind of fight Afghanistan will be able to put on. And even before that, they will have to counter the disconcerting bounce generated by Ishant Sharma and the pace worked up by Umesh Yadav. As Kevin Pietersen said during his MAK Pataudi Lecture, a lot will depend on their “ability to take lessons from the nets into the heat of battle”. Ireland had put up a respectable fight against Pakistan on their Test debut but again it was Kevin O’Brien who was the silver lining in the batting department. But whatever be the outcome, “a beautiful journey” has already begun for Afghanistan. Squads: India_:_ Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Ravichandran Ashwin. Ravindra Jadeja. Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav. Afghanistan_:_ Ashgar Stanikzai, Mohammed Shahzad, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Ihsanullah Janat, Nasir Jamal, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Mohammed Nabi, Rashid Khan, Zahir Khan, Amir Hamza Hotak, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai Wafadar, Mujeeb ur Rahman. With inputs from PTI
Highlights, India vs Afghanistan, Only Test at Bengaluru, Full Cricket Scorecard: Afghans fightback after Dhawan, Vijay tons on Day 1
Wafadar is back into the attack and concedes a boundary off the first ball. He also induces an outside edge on the fifth ball but it falls short of the slip fielder.
That will be stumps on Day 1!
 "Highlights, India vs Afghanistan, Only Test at Bengaluru, Full Cricket Scorecard: Afghans fightback after Dhawan, Vijay tons on Day 1")
What a day of Test cricket this has been. Almost all cricket fans felt for the Afghanistan cricket team when Shikhar Dhawan was smashing them all over the park. The southpaw also got his ton before lunch. Then Murali Vijay too got to the milestone. It felt as if it will be a long and forgettable day for the visitors. But one wicket led to another and the Afghan spinners cashed in on the strong position. They conceded 99 runs in the final session and took five wickets. Outstanding comeback.
Even though India are slightly ahead at the moment because of the dominant first two sessions, skittling out the hosts early could bring Afghanistan back into the game. An exciting day of Test cricket awaits us.
Do join us tomorrow at 9 am. For now though, it’s time to say goodbye.
Our correspondent Shubham Pandey reviews the day one proceedings of the historic Test from the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
After 78 overs,India 347/6 ( Hardik Pandya 10 , Ravichandran Ashwin 7)
Wafadar is back into the attack and concedes a boundary off the first ball. He also induces an outside edge on the fifth ball but it falls short of the slip fielder.
That will be stumps on Day 1!
India today:
First session – 158/0 (27 overs)
Second session – 90/1 (28.1 overs)
Third session – 99/5 (32.5 overs)
Most runs by a team in a day’s play at Bangalore:
365 – India v Pakistan, 2007
347 – India v Afghanistan, 2018*
339 – India v Sri Lanka, 1994
All the instances are of the first day.
After 78 overs,India 347/6 ( Hardik Pandya 10 , Ravichandran Ashwin 7)
Wafadar is back into the attack and concedes a boundary off the first ball. He also induces an outside edge on the fifth ball but it falls short of the slip fielder.
That will be stumps on Day 1!
After 77 overs,India 343/6 ( Hardik Pandya 10 , Ravichandran Ashwin 3)
Rashid to bowl his 26th over. Two came off the over and Ashwin almost lost his off stump in the over. He left a delivery thinking it was a leg break but it was a googly and marginally missed the off stump.
After 76 overs,India 340/6 ( Hardik Pandya 10 , Ravichandran Ashwin 1)
Mujeeb has often bowled a bad ball in an over today and the second ball was that delivery in this over. It was dispatched for a boundary. Six came off the over.
After 75 overs,India 334/6 ( Hardik Pandya 5 , Ravichandran Ashwin 0)
The pressure is getting to India. The run out was a result of that pressure. India are six down. Who would’ve expected this after the start they got?
OUT! India have lost five wickets in the last session. What a fantastic session for Afghanistan. Dinesh taps this toward off side and sets off immediately for a single. But Pandya was not interested and sent him back. Nasir Jamal, the fielder, hurled the ball to Zazai, the keeper, who whipped the bails off quickly. Karthik’s bat was in the air and he will have to depart.
Karthik run out (Nasir Jamal/Zazai)
After 74 overs,India 332/5 ( Dinesh Karthik (W) 3 , Hardik Pandya 4)
Mujeeb’s wait for a maiden is over. He has finally bowled one after 13 overs.
After 73 overs,India 332/5 ( Dinesh Karthik (W) 3 , Hardik Pandya 4)
Rashid Khan to bowl another over. He would bowl till 10 in the night if given the opportunity. Seems to be in the zone after snaring his first wicket. Allows only one single off his 24th over.
After 72 overs,India 331/5 ( Dinesh Karthik (W) 3 , Hardik Pandya 3)
Karthik and Pandya are batting for survival. Another wicket here could be trouble for India. Three runs off the over.
DK survives only by just!
Dinesh Karthik lucky to survive that review, but clearly umpire Paul Reiffell is unable to read Rashid Khan's spin, tweaks and turns!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) June 14, 2018
After 71 overs,India 328/5 ( Dinesh Karthik (W) 3 , Hardik Pandya 0)
Afghanistan review an LBW call. They think they have got their man. Karthik has been pinged on the pad but the umpire’s call saves him this time. A maiden for Rashid.
After 70 overs,India 328/5 ( Dinesh Karthik (W) 3 , Hardik Pandya 0)
What a brilliant phase of cricket this has been for Afghanistan. Mujeeb picks up his first Test wicket. India are five down and this match has become interesting all of a sudden.
Dinesh Karthik’s batting average in Test cricket:
Home – 21.60
Away – 32.28
He is now a much better batsman than these numbers.
OUT! Mujeeb Ur Rahman strikes and what a great first Test wicket to have. Pujara has been dismissed. Bowls a carrom ball that holds its line and it takes the inside shoulder of the bat and Nabi takes a sharp catch at leg slip.
Pujara c Nabi b Mujeeb 35(52)
After 69 overs,India 327/4 ( Cheteshwar Pujara 35 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 2)
Rashid has found his rhythm even if 20 overs late. He has started to look threatening and could’ve had his second wicket had Nabi taken Pujara’s catch at first slip.
After 68 overs,India 321/4 ( Cheteshwar Pujara 30 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 1)
Mujeeb continues and India milk three singles off his 10th over. Pujara is batting at a healthy strike rate of 70…
After 67 overs,India 318/4 ( Cheteshwar Pujara 28 , Dinesh Karthik (W) 0)
Ajinkya Rahane’s departure brings Dinesh Karthik to the centre. It is his comeback match and he will want to be among the runs.
OUT! First Test wicket for Rashid Khan and it has come after a hard day. Bowls the fast leg break. Rahane goes on his back foot to defend and gets rapped on the pad. Afghanistan appeal but the umpire says no. Stanikzai has a word with this players and opts for the review.
Three reds and Rahane will have to walk.
Rahane lbw b Rashid Khan 10(45)
After 66 overs,India 317/3 ( Cheteshwar Pujara 27 , Ajinkya Rahane (C) 10)
Five runs come off the first two balls of the over and then Mujeeb bowls four straight dots.
After 65 overs,India 312/3 ( Cheteshwar Pujara 22 , Ajinkya Rahane (C) 10)
Rashid continues. Pujara plays out the first three balls and then takes a single and Rahane defends the final two balls.
After 64 overs,India 311/3 ( Cheteshwar Pujara 21 , Ajinkya Rahane (C) 10)
Four dots. One single and boundary in Mujeeb’s 8th over, who has already leaked 51 runs. It was supposed to be a spinners’ day. It has been anything but that.
Play can go on till 17:29 i.e. 20 minutes from now. Rahane, Pujara look to play it out safely.
Third session from 14:50 - 17:29. Overs remaining : 44.5 #INDvAFG #TheHistoricFirst
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 14, 2018
After 63 overs,India 306/3 ( Cheteshwar Pujara 20 , Ajinkya Rahane (C) 6)
The run rate has fallen in after Vijay and Rahul’s departure. This might be a conscious effort from Rahane and Pujara given that India had lost two wickets in quick succession but the hosts have to now ensure that they don’t lose another wicket till stumps now.
After 62 overs,India 304/3 ( Cheteshwar Pujara 19 , Ajinkya Rahane (C) 5)
Sixth maiden for Ahmadzai. His spell post the rain break has been spectacular. India are giving him respect and he is cashing in on that.
After 61 overs,India 304/3 ( Cheteshwar Pujara 19 , Ajinkya Rahane (C) 5)
Rashid Khan returns and bowls his first Test maiden. Rahane is refusing to take any risks. Think he has made his mind to play a long innings today.
After 60 overs,India 304/3 ( Cheteshwar Pujara 19 , Ajinkya Rahane (C) 5)
An expensive over from the Afghanistan captain. This duo was struggling to score runs and this over will release some pressure off them.
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