India vs Afghanistan, Only Test, Day 2: Hits and Misses
After losing a flurry of wickets in the last session of the first day, India pulled off a dominant performance against Afghanistan on the second day to secure a massive victory against the Test debutant nation at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The home team, who were led by Ajinkya Rahane in this Test in place of injured Virat Kohli, displayed their supremacy to win the game by a massive margin of an innings and 262 runs.
Afghanistan players lost on the day, but Afghanistan cricket won manifold. These bunch of talented and spirited individuals, who have scripted a fairytale for a nation in turmoil, will always be remembered fondly in their country's cricketing history for years galore.
Quite fittingly, they were given the chance to lift the trophy first in Bangalore, courtesy a warm gesture from the Indian cricket team. It has been an eventful couple of days in Bangalore and certainly, both the teams will take back a lot of positives from this game.
Listed below are the hits and misses from the day:
#5 Hit: Indian opening bowlers
Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma, India's openers with the new ball, displayed their class from the word go and picked up crucial wickets in both the innings. The latter did well in the first innings, scalping two Afghanistan wickets in the five overs he bowled. He remained consistent in the follow-on as well, getting a brace yet again.
Yadav, though, created a real impact in the second innings, picking up three wickets with his pace and precision. Overall, the duo bowled 25 overs through the game, picking up eight wickets between them and wrecking havoc in the Afghanistan top order.
This is a strong side for the Indian contingent going forward, especially with tough overseas assignments coming forth in the next few months. Both Yadav and Sharma are amongst the four seamers India rely on during tough times, and if Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami manage to get their best to the table in the near future, the bowling attack as well as the bench under Kohli tooks will look strong and formidable on any cricketing surface.