India ended the first day of the Only Test against Afghanistan at 368 for 3 in Mullanpur, a total built on centuries from KL Rahul and Shubman Gill and a brisk 81 from Sai Sudharsan. Afghanistan took early wickets and had chances to slow the surge, but they could not turn the opening session into control.
That is why Mohammad Saleem’s two wickets and Ziaur Rahman’s single strike feel so thin against the scoreline. India won the toss and batted first, and by lunch Rahul and Sudharsan had already taken them to 104 before the innings widened into a long afternoon of runs.
Rahul’s hundred arrived after an early scare in the 11th over, when an edge was checked and Ultraedge showed a nick, while Sudharsan later escaped in the 19th over when an edge slipped past the fielders. Those moments mattered because Afghanistan needed every break they could get, and the missed chances left them chasing the game for most of the day.
Gill finished on 103 not out, Rahul reached 100, and India reached stumps with the match already leaning heavily their way. Afghanistan were being asked to face the same old problem they ran into when they played India in their first Test in 2018, only this time the gap looked even wider after what was described as another dose of reality in red-ball cricket 12 Tests later.
The numbers at the close leave Afghanistan with a simple but punishing task on day two: find wickets quickly, or watch India push the lead far beyond reach. With Rahul gone, Gill still there, and Sudharsan having already set the tone, the next question is not whether India are in command, but how long Afghanistan can keep them from turning command into a match-defining total.
