IND vs AFG Test: Debutant Suthar’s 3-21 puts India in control over Afghanistan

Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar celebrates his maiden Test wicket after dismissing Afghan opener Abdul Malik on Sunday. Pic/BCCI

A pair of 23-year-old bowlers in the infancy of their international careers dominated the narrative on Sunday as India expectedly tightened the screws on Afghanistan in the one-off Test.

Mohammad Saleem, a strapping right-arm quick playing his second Test, showed great skill and no little heart in registering his maiden five-for, just reward for persistence and perseverance. Saleem's 6-140 in 27 probing overs in great heat and on a surface that offered him little joy couldn't, however, prevent India from amassing 564-8 declared on Day Two here.

Manav Suthar, the left-arm spinner on debut, then used the remaining three hours to announce his arrival with a terrific display of control, as much as anything else. Preferred to Harsh Dubey with India embarking on a quest to identify their future weapons, the Rajasthan bowler with a wealth of experience for state, zone and India ‘A' took three wickets to peg Afghanistan back, the visitors subsiding to 113-5, a mammoth 451 runs in arrears.

Where Saleem used the pronounced seam to great effect to nip the ball around just enough to catch the outside edge, Suthar thrived on the turn a gradually wearing deck provided. It took him just four deliveries to strike paydirt when he had opener Abdul Malik caught on the sweep at the stroke of tea. In the final session, he continued his impressive show by marrying unerring accuracy with subtle variations, tying up the Afghan batters in knots.

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Manav Suthar is the eighth Indian to claim a wicket in the first over of his debut Test

Brief scores
India 564-8 (S Gill 126, KL Rahul 100, S Sudharsan 81, R Pant 81, W Sundar 52'; M Safi 6-140) vs Afghanistan 113-5 (R Shah 43'; M Suthar 3-21, P Krishna 2-27)