India demolished Afghanistan by an innings & 262 runs in their maiden Test match at Bengaluru. The match lasted just two days, making it the shortest ever in India. Afghanistan became just the fourth side to be bowled out twice inside a day, as a total of 24 wickets fell on the second day.
Victory was a foregone conclusion for the top ranked Indian team which has outplayed every opponent at home in recent times, even though skipper Virat Kohli and fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami missed out on this Test match. However, the domination above Test cricket's newest nation will indeed ring some alarm bells in England, where India will take on the hosts in a 5-match Test series from August.
Afghanistan will take back lot of lessons from the game. Their bowling fought back strongly after Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay's centuries, as India were bowled out for 474 after being 280/1 at one stage. Their fielding and catching left a lot to be desired and the less said about their batting, the better as none of the batsmen could last long enough to trouble India.
After the match, Team India skipper Ajinkya Rahane won a lot of hearts when he requested the visiting side to join the home side for a group picture. Afghanistan's journey to test status has been an inspiring one, and Team India recognized their efforts. Here is the video posted by BCCI on Twitter:
What a brilliant gesture from #TeamIndia to ask @ACBofficials players to pose with them with the Trophy. This has been more than just another Test match #SpiritofCricket #TheHistoricFirst #INDvAFG @Paytm pic.twitter.com/TxyEGVBOU8
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 15, 2018
Spirit of Cricket is truly alive and this gesture was appreciated and hailed by the cricketing fraternity on Twitter too. Here are some of the tweets:
Wonderful sportsmanship! Bravo!
— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) June 15, 2018
This is Spirit of Cricket!#INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/kmOIkN1H0t
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) June 15, 2018
Wow. Never saw that happening before. Wonderful Sportsmanship spirit from @ajinkyarahane88. Well Played India. As for Afghanistan this match was more than just result. You will play and you will learn. Keep growing @ACBofficials :) https://t.co/HlBiYBcnnI
— Siddharth Kaul (@sidkaul22) June 15, 2018
What a lovely sight this is. Great gesture by @ajinkyarahane88 and co to call the Afghanistan players for the picture. India played like champions and @ACBofficials will just go upwards from here. ???? #IndvAfg pic.twitter.com/NJKowEtmR7
— R P Singh (@rpsingh) June 15, 2018
Yes, lovely gesture. https://t.co/OlaCtATYJH
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 15, 2018
And a photo with @ACBofficials on the historic occasion ???? #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/YU8ojRLTy7
— ICC (@ICC) June 15, 2018