On the opening day of the one-off Test against Afghanistan on Saturday, India scored Afghanistan 368-3 thanks to centuries from opener KL Rahul and captain Shubman Gill.
After India decided to bat first at New Chandigarh, Rahul hit 100 off 165 balls and shared a second wicket partnership of 139 with Sai Sudharsan, who scored 81.
Gill ended the day on 103 in an undefeated stand of 121 with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who was on 50 not out, after the dismissals of Sudharsan and Rahul.
With a single off Mohammad Saleem, Gill completed his eleventh Test century and lifted his bat to acknowledge the cheers of sparse fans at India’s newest Test stadium.
The next ball, Rahul attempted an expansive drive off fast bowler Ziaur Rahman but was caught at short extra cover, ending his 12th Test century.
After Rahul was dismissed, Gill maintained the tempo, hitting Saleem for two consecutive boundaries and finishing the day with eleven fours and a six.
Before reaching his 19th Test half-century, the left-handed Pant took on the bowling assault by hitting three sixes in a single over from spinner Abdul Malik.
Earlier, on a hot and sunny day, Rahul and left-hander Sudharsan frustrated the Afghan opposition by hitting 11 fours in a calm knock. Sudharsan scored his third Test half-century with a four, but Saleem had him caught behind for 81.
Despite being dropped on 20 and 59, Sudharsan made the most of his reprieves by smashing 13 fours in 104 balls. On 16, Rahul came dangerously close to being caught behind Ziaur, but the umpire denied the appeal, and Afghanistan did not ask for a review.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for 24 by Saleem when the left-hander tried to flick down the leg side but was caught behind.
Nangeyalia Kharote, a rookie left-arm spinner, was on the verge of taking a wicket in his opening over as Sudharsan edged the ball to the first slip, but Rahmanullah Gurbaz missed the chance.
After losing to South Africa 0-2 at home in November, India, which is currently ranked third in the world Test rankings, is hoping to recover.
Afghanistan, who played their first five-day encounter in India in 2018, finds the match to be significant even though it is not a part of the World Test Championship calendar.
