• Source:JND

India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to bat against Afghanistan in the one-off Test, which is taking place at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, New Chandigarh. Indian spinner Manav Suthar made his debut against Afghanistan, and veteran spinner Kuldeep Yadav handed him the debut cap. 

Notably, this is the second time that India and Afghanistan have played each other in a Test match. Earlier, two sides faced each other in a Test match back in 2018 where the Men in Blue registered a dominating win. 

Captains at toss

Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan Captain: We wanted to bat as well as the wicket looks good. We need to play good cricket. We are ready for the challenge. We like challenges. We are well prepared for this game. We had a good preparation camp in Kabul. (On Richard Pybus) He's good, he's also a very positive person, his mindset is positive. We have three seamers and two spinning combinations.. We have one debutant.

Shubman Gill (India Captain): We are gonna bat first. Very hot and humid. It's going to get slower and lower. Very special, I grew up playing here. It's a great privilege to captain here. The preparation has been good. Got a good couple of days of sleep. Nine Test matches after this, we've got quite a few home Test matches. It's about getting the combination right. We've got Manav Suthar making his debut.

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India vs Afghanistan playing XIs

India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Sediqullah Atal, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Afsar Zazai(w), Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Nangeyalia Kharote, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi, Mohammad Saleem Safi


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