Team India cleaned up the IND vs AFG Test match in Mullanpur on day 3 of the game by a huge margin. On Monday, Shubman Gill’s unit sealed the one-off Test match against Hashmatullah Shahidi’s side by an innings and 300 runs.
This was a historic feat as India recorded their biggest ever innings win in Test match cricket; India’s previous biggest innings victory was against the West Indies in 2018 in Rajkot, where the hosts won by an innings and 272 runs.
After centuries from KL Rahul and Shubman Gill, and fifties from Rishabh Pant, Sai Sudharsan, and Washington Sundar helped India post a giant total of 564 runs, the bowlers bundled out Afghanistan for 152 in the first innings.
Captain Gill and coach Gambhir enforced the follow-on on Afghanistan, and the Indian bowlers once again dismissed the visitors, this time for only 112 runs.
Debutant Manav Suthar made headlines on days 2 and 3 as he claimed a six-wicket haul in Afghanistan’s first innings, becoming the 10th Indian men’s cricketer to take a five-for on his Test debut.
Suthar, a 23-year-old left-arm spinner from Rajasthan, now holds the record for the third-best bowling figures by an Indian bowler on Test debut. Suthar’s 6/33 are behind only Narendra Hirwani’s epic double of 8/61 & 8/75 on his maiden appearance in Test cricket against West Indies in Chennai in 1988.
Top 5 best bowling figures by an Indian on Test debut:
- 8/61 – Narendra Hirwani vs West Indies, Chennai, 1988
- 8/75- Narendra Hirwani vs West Indies, Chennai, 1988
- 6/33 – Manav Suthar vs Afghanistan, Mullanpur, 2026
- 6/47 – R Ashwin vs West Indies, Delhi, 2011
- 6/55 – Abid Ali vs Australia, Adelaide, 1967
Further, Suthar became the 9th Indian player to receive the Man of the Match award on his Test debut in men’s cricket. The first Indian to bag this honor was Pravin Amre in 1992 against South Africa, and the player prior to Suthar to get the PoTM on Test debut was Yashasvi Jaiswal. This list also includes Shreyas Iyer, Ashwin, and Rohit Sharma.
List Of Indian Players Who Won Player Of The Match Award On Test Debut ft. Manav Suthar, Rohit Sharma
- 1992 – Pravin Amre vs South Africa, 1992
- 2006 – RP Singh vs Pakistan, 2006
- 2011 – Ravichandran Ashwin vs West Indies, 2011
- 2013 – Shikhar Dhawan vs Australia, 2013
- 2013 – Rohit Sharma vs West Indies, 2013
- 2018 – Prithvi Shaw vs West Indies, 2018
- 2021 – Shreyas Iyer vs New Zealand, 2021
- 2023 – Yashasvi Jaiswal vs West Indies, 2023
- 2026 – Manav Suthar vs Afghanistan, 2026
Suthar was able to feature in this Test as Ravindra Jadeja was rested and Axar Patel was not picked. It will be interesting to see whether Suthar retains his place even when Jadeja returns.
When is India’s next Test series?
India’s next Test series is in November in New Zealand, when India will fly to New Zealand for an all-format tour comprising 5 T20Is, 3 ODIs, and 2 Tests.
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