A huge achievement for Afghanistan, as they made their debut in the format of cricket where you have to go through the real "Test". From a war-torn country to here, is really commendable. As far as the game is concerned, their first outing in the longest format of the game was forgettable one as they were thrashed by an innings & 262 runs in just 2 days by the world no.1 test side, India.
After this defeat, Afghanistan will surely improve their game in the longer format. Now they know,"How tough test cricket is ?" especially if you are playing against such a big team, India. The first day Vijay & Dhawan scored tons & some brilliant finger spin by Ashwin-Jadeja on another day totally outplayed Afghanistan in the game.
Before match lot of experts and fans were confident and talking about Rashid and Mujeeb. Some people were even saying that this pair will overshadow the best spin duo of the present time, Ashwin-Jadeja in this match. But they forgot the magic of this spin duo, they are doing from last 5-6 years. Mujeeb & Rashid took 3 wickets for more than 220 runs while Ashwin & Jadeja shared 11 wickets for less than 100 runs in the match. These stats show "what experience matters?".
Apart from Hasmatullah Shahidi & their pacers Wafadar & Ahmadzai no one showed "Patience". They were playing with a shorter format mindset. Their batting faced less number of balls than India's total score in the whole match. So if they want to achieve something in tests, they have to learn "Patience" & "Defence", as in tests you can't think to attack each & every ball, while batting as well as bowling. But they performed well in patches & will surely come next time with some improvement.
What a brilliant gesture from #TeamIndia to ask @ACBofficials players to pose with them with the Trophy. This has been more than just another Test match #SpiritofCricket #TheHistoricFirst #INDvAFG @Paytm pic.twitter.com/TxyEGVBOU8— BCCI (@BCCI) June 15, 2018
"From here on it is only upwards & onwards for them. Their seamers bowled very well, especially in 3rd session yesterday, & I am sure they will go a long way against all opponents", Rahane said. At last in a beautiful gesture, Rahane invited Afghanistan's players to share a picture with the winning trophy. That amazing gesture from stand-in Indian skipper will always be remembered in the history of cricket. Today every cricket fan around the world especially from India is a well-wisher of Afghanistan team. Hope they will achieve a lot of success in cricket. Afghanistan will play their next test series in February against another new test paying nation, Ireland.