India vs Afghanistan: In the end...Cricket won
Their was a lot of excitement about the afghans facing the no.1 team in the world and lot of cricket experts around the world were sure that the test debut making team will at least give a healthy fight against the Indians. But this fighting spirit was seen only in the last two sessions of day 1,and that was clearly not enough for the visitors as team india finished the game in just two days despite some delays due to rain.
Maybe the excitement was due to the performance by some of their players in limited over games in the last few months and emergence of some of the youngsters like mujeeb and Rashid khan.Specially Rashid khan was a sensation in this ipl season but the opposite happened in the test match..But I think the main reason of their sudden downfall is the difference between test cricket and other forms.
In the IPL also they have to bowl only four overs and both of the mentioned bowlers performed brilliantly for their teams but test cricket is not about bowling variations and innovative shots,Its all about temperament,focus and patience.And this is where they lacked.They were playing aggressive cricket from the first ball and some times in test cricket,its better to be a bit defensive and careful.As a result their agression fell on them and India got the perfect start.
And when it came to their batting, it was a dreadful collapse of their batters ,they were on comfortable with the outswinging pace deliveries and afterwards were not able to pick the line of the spinners,main reason was their foot movement,they were going to their backfoot again and again and in the end it was all about the collective efforts of indian bowlers who really showed great peice of bowling.
Well,the match didnt end the way anyone would be expecting,but it was their first match so no one will worry much about that. after all india also achieved their first test vicyory after 20 years of their debut.And this test match will even increase their confidence and will motivate them to work even harder in the future.
The most pleasing moment of the game came in the end when the indians called all their opponents to have a photo with the trophy and the champions board.The Indians also knew that they didn't beat the toughest of the team but will take this as a big positive towards the upcoming serirs versus England.
The spirit of cricket was restored and this historic test match really became a wonderfull moment for all of them which they will remember for their whole life.