Afghanistan’s maiden bow in Test cricket turned out to be a nightmare as they lost the match to India inside two days. The debutants lost 20 wickets over two sessions to succumb to a loss by an innings and 262 runs.
The Afghans were left red faced at Bengaluru as the vastly superior Indians bowled them out for 109 and 103. Ashwin picked up 4 wickets in the first innings while Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers in the second innings, ending with 4 wickets.
This is also India’s biggest Test win in terms of the run margin by an innings. They had earlier beaten Bangladesh (in May 2007) and Sri Lanka (November 217) by an innings and 239 runs.
This is only the third instance where a team has been bowled out twice on the same day of a Test match. Incidentally, India were the first team to face this humiliation. The Indians under the captaincy of Vijay Hazare were bowled out for 58 and 82 by England at Old Trafford in 1952. The legendary fast bowling duo of Alec Bedser (7/46) and Fred Trueman (9/40) picked up 16 wickets between themselves to flatten the Indians.
Zimbabwe are the only team to have lost 20 wickets on the same day of a Test twice. New Zealand were the winners on both occasions. The first of the two instances took place in 2005 in Harare when the Zimbabweans were bowled out for 59 and 99 under the watch of keeper-captain Tatenda Taibu. Brendan Taylor was in charge of the team in 2012 when Kiwi paceman Chris Martin’s 8-wicket match haul helped New Zealand bowl the Zimbabweans out for 51 and 143 in Napier.