By Prakash Nair 
New Chandigarh, June 7: Shubman Gill declared at 564 for 8 on Saturday and Afghanistan, God bless them, are already 536 runs behind with nine wickets still to fall and three Indian spinners licking their lips. The pitch is turning. It is only Day 2. This one might not last five days.
But before we get to the inevitability of what is coming next, let us talk about what India produced with the bat, because some of it was genuinely special and deserves more than a scorecard glance.
Gill’s Hundred Comes With a Jaw-Dropping Footnote
The captain made 126. That is the headline. Fifteen fours, one six, 177 balls, an innings that started composed and ended completely in command. Gill has this way of making batting in Tests look like a conversation he is having rather than a fight he is in, and on Saturday that quality was on full display.
Now the footnote. During that innings, Gill crossed 1,000 runs as India’s Test captain. Fine, good, well done. Except the average at which he has accumulated those runs is 82.8. That number puts him second in history among captains with at least 1,000 Test runs to their name. The man ahead of him is Don Bradman, who averaged 101.5 as skipper. Then comes Gill. Then, some distance further back, Sangakkara, Steve Smith, the rest of them.
Yes, it is early in his captaincy. Yes, the numbers could shift. But right now, today, that is where he sits. Second only to Bradman. There are Test legends who captained for a decade who never got close to that list. Gill is already on it.
He also put on 169 with Pant for the fourth wicket, the highest partnership India have registered against Afghanistan in Test cricket, for any wicket, ever. Not a bad day at the office for a 25-year-old captain.
Rahul’s Hundred Already Feels Underappreciated
KL Rahul scored a century on Day 1 and by the time Saturday came around it was already being discussed in the past tense, buried under fresher news. That is a little unfair.
Rahul’s knock was exactly what it needed to be. He came in early, faced the new ball when Afghanistan had a bit of energy, and built the kind of innings that gives everyone who bats after you something to work with. No unnecessary risks, no flashy nonsense, just proper top-order batting from someone who knows his job and does it without making a fuss.
The century was the result of that approach. It was also, in a broader sense, a pointed response to a slightly complicated personal narrative. Rahul had just been handed the Test vice-captaincy after Pant lost it. Scoring a hundred in the same match, ahead of the man you replaced, is the sort of thing that makes dressing rooms complicated and sports journalists happy.
He batted well. That is ultimately what matters.
Pant Made 81 and You Could See Both Sides of Him Clearly
Rishabh Pant is the most entertaining batter in Indian cricket right now. That is not really up for debate. When he is in, you watch differently. You lean forward a little. You stop doing whatever else you were doing. He has that quality and it is rare.
He made 81 off 121 balls on Saturday, six fours and three sixes, and for most of that innings a century felt like a formality. He was hitting spinners back over their heads. He was charging fast bowlers. He was doing the full Pant experience and Afghanistan had absolutely no answer for it.
Then Hashmatullah Shahidi floated one up, inviting the big shot, and Pant accepted the invitation with full commitment and zero success. He skied it to mid-off. Omarzai took the catch. Shahidi got his maiden Test wicket and probably has not stopped smiling since.
Eighty-one is an outstanding score in any Test innings. But you cannot watch Pant get out like that and not feel the ghost of a hundred that never arrived. He knows it too. You could tell by how he walked off.
One more thing. Pant lost the Test vice-captaincy to Rahul before this match. The scorebook now reads Rahul 100, Pant 81. Make of that what you will.
Washington Sundar Is the Most Underrated Cricketer in This Indian Squad
Say it plainly: Washington Sundar is too good for the attention he gets. He came in with the innings in its later stages and made an unbeaten 52 off 65 balls, five fours and a six. It was his sixth Test fifty. He batted calmly, he batted smartly, and when Gill called the team in Washington was still there, not out, having done exactly what was needed without any drama whatsoever.
Nobody will be talking about his innings much. They should be.
Suthar and Siraj Turned the Afternoon Into a Party
Manav Suthar was playing the first Test match of his life on Saturday and he responded to that fact by immediately hitting Hashmatullah Shahidi for a six over his head. Another maximum, 82 metres this time, took India past 500. He was eventually out for 28 off 41 balls, two fours, two sixes, caught off Saleem Safi, and even in departure he looked like someone who belongs at this level. Debut nerves were, if present at all, completely invisible.
Mohammed Siraj then walked out and decided the occasion called for hitting. He made 22 off 12 balls. Four fours and a six. He carved one delivery through the covers, deposited another into the stands, and in general played the kind of cameo that tail-enders play when absolutely nothing is at stake and it is late on a warm afternoon. Highest Test score of his career. He will probably bat lower than this for the rest of his career and not mind at all.
Saleem Safi Ran in All Day and Came Out With Six Wickets
Here is the honest truth about Saleem Safi: 6 for 140 is ugly if you read it quickly, but actually watch what he did and it looks quite different. He bowled long spells. He got Gill. He got rid of the tail. He did not stop competing even when India were 480 and the match was already shaping up as a one-sided affair. Six wickets in his second Test makes him only the third Afghanistan bowler in history to take a five-for in the format.
The 140 runs conceded is what happens when you bowl into a batting lineup like India’s on a flat track for 127 overs. Safi bowled his heart out. Afghanistan will need more like him if they are to grow in this format.
Then Afghanistan Had to Bat
About twenty minutes before Tea, Afghanistan’s openers walked out to face the music. Sediqullah Atal and Abdul Malik started decently, picking up some runs, looking comfortable enough to suggest this might at least be watchable.
Then Suthar got the ball. Fourth delivery of his Test career, Malik top-edged a sweep, backward square leg took the catch. Gone for 16. Afghanistan were 28 for 1 at Tea. Deficit: 536. Atal 11 not out. Rahmanullah Gurbaz yet to score.
The surface is spinning already. Three Indian spinners are fresh and ready. The next few days are going to be tough viewing for anyone cheering for the visitors. But at some point you have to tip your hat to Afghanistan simply for being here, for taking this on, for running in and bowling 127 overs against a full-strength India batting lineup even when the contest was clearly tilting one way.
That said, good intentions do not save Test matches. Runs and wickets do. India have 564 of the former and need ten more of the latter.
They look like getting them.
Brief Scores: India 564/8 declared (Shubman Gill 126, KL Rahul 100, Washington Sundar 52 not out, Rishabh Pant 81, Manav Suthar 28, Mohammed Siraj 22; Saleem Safi 6/140) vs Afghanistan 28/1 in 6 overs (Abdul Malik 16, Sediqullah Atal 11 not out, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 0 not out; Manav Suthar 1/6). Afghanistan trail by 536 runs.
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Sports reporter covering cricket, football, and Olympic disciplines, with on-ground event experience.
- Prakash Nair
- Prakash Nair
- Prakash Nair
- Prakash Nair
