India vs Afghanistan: Ajinkya Rahane and Co. win one off test by an innings

Credit though must be given where it's due. India's stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane had said before the Test that his side wouldn't allow the occasion to make them soft, he had promised to be ruthless

The heaviest shower that this city has seen in the last 10 days came down two hours too late for the beleaguered Afghanistan team. In fact two is perhaps the most hated word in Afghanistan now. Two Indian openers scored tons, Afghanistan were bowled out twice on the same day, and the Test itself, their inaugural Test at that, was over in
two days.

109 all out in the first innings that lasted a mere 27.5 overs and 103 all out in 38.4 overs after being asked to follow on, meant they had lost by an innings and 262 runs. Credit though must be given where it's due. India's stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane had said before the Test that his side wouldn't allow the occasion to make them soft, he had promised to be ruthless.

Ruthless act
Ruthless they were with bat and ball, with pace and spin as they registered the biggest-ever win in their Test history. So, as much as it was Afghanistan's loss, it was a commanding Indian win at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here. The second and final day — incidentally this was the first time India have won a Test inside two days — started with the Indians on 347-6. Hardik Pandya and R Ashwin resumed their innings and while Ashwin didn't last too long, the former did no harm to his reputation with the bat, making his way to an attractive 71. He was particularly severe on Rashid Khan as he took his side to 474, a total that was always going to be 'two' much.

No one though expected the Afghanistan batting to collapse so, twice at that. The first wicket that went down was that of the portly Mohd Shahzad, caught well short of the crease when he attempted a single to point, where Pandya swooped down on the ball and brought down the stumps at the bowler's end.

100th wicket for Umesh
It was not as if the Indians needed the favour of a run out but it did open the floodgates. Probing opening spells of 6-1-18-1 from Umesh Yadav, who got to his 100th wicket when he had Rahmat Shah plumb in front, and 5-0-28-2 from Ishant Sharma was just the platform that spinners Ashwin and Jadeja needed. Bowling with his usual guile, Ashwin had the batsmen in a knot as he ended with a four-wicket haul, while Jadeja cleaned up the innings with two of his own.

The tea interval that followed was the only respite for the visiting side as this time Yadav proved even more deadly. He bagged three quick wickets even as Ishant chipped in with two. The final rites were done by Jadeja, whose quick arm action and nagging accuracy found no answer from Afghanistan's late order.

One
Number of time India have won a Test match inside two days

Four
Number of times a team has been bowled out twice in a day’s play, including yesterday. India suffered the humiliation in 1952 v England, while Zimbabwe faced it twice

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