India declared their first innings at 564 against Afghanistan, with captain Gill and KL Rahul scoring centuries.
The foundation of this huge score was laid by the brilliant centuries of captain Shubman Gill and KL Rahul. Both batsmen completely dominated the Afghan bowlers.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, the Indian team had a steady start. After Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) got out early, KL Rahul stabilized the innings with Sai Sudarshan.
Sai Sudarshan missed his maiden Test century and was out for 81. Following this, KL Rahul completed his hundred but was also dismissed for a score of 100.
Captain Shubman Gill carried the innings forward with a superb knock of 126 runs. He built a crucial partnership with Rishabh Pant, which took India's score past 400.
Rishabh Pant also looked in good rhythm but missed his century, getting out for 81. Both batsmen maintained the run rate by playing aggressive shots.
Besides the top order, the lower-order batsmen also made useful contributions. Washington Sundar remained unbeaten on 52, while Manav Suthar scored 28 runs.
After 127 overs, Indian captain Shubman Gill decided to declare the innings, to give the bowlers ample opportunity to put pressure on the Afghan batsmen.
Towards the end, Mohammed Siraj played a quickfire innings of 22 runs off just 12 balls, helping the score cross the 550-mark.
For Afghanistan, Mohammad Saleem Safi was the most successful bowler. He bowled splendidly to dismiss 6 Indian batsmen. Besides him, Zia-ur-Rehman and Hashmatullah Shahidi picked up one wicket each.
However, this match is not part of the World Test Championship (WTC), so a win or loss will not affect the points table. Nevertheless, the Indian team has completely tightened its grip on this match, and making a comeback will be a major challenge for Afghanistan.
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