NEW CHANDIGARH: Right-handed opener KL Rahul and skipper Shubman Gill scored centuries to help India get off to a dominant start on the first day of the first Test against Afghanistan at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
At 368/3 in 85 overs on the opening day, ton-up Gill and wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant remained unbeaten on 103 and 50 respectively.
However, India, who elected to bat first, stifled the opening of their innings as their left-arm opener Yashashvi Jaiswal (24) fell to Mohammad Saleem for 41 in the 12th over.
After an early stumble, veteran opener Rahul was joined by Sai Sudarsan in the middle as the duo dominated and put on 139 for the second wicket until Salim struck again, the former making 81 off 104 balls with the help of 13 fours.
Rahul then shared a 67-run third-wicket partnership with captain Gill, which saw him reach his 11th Test century and culminated with the opener’s soft dismissal of Ziaur Rahman early in the third session.
The right-handed opener departed after scoring 100 off 165 balls with 11 fours.
Gill then joined wicketkeeper Batter Bundt in the middle, and the duo maintained India’s momentum with an unbeaten 141-run partnership for the fourth wicket, during which the home captain registered his 10th Test century.
Captain Gill topped the Indian team with an unbeaten 103 off 143 balls with 11 fours and a six while Pant scored an unbeaten 50 off 70 balls with 3 sixes and 2 fours.
For Afghanistan, Saleem took 2 wickets for 67 runs in 13 overs and Rahman took one wicket.