Manav Suthar snared a six-wicket haul on a dream debut as Afghanistan were bowled out for a paltry 152 on day three of the one-off Test against India here on Monday.
After India enforced the follow-on, Afghanistan huffed and puffed their way to 18 for no loss at lunch with 394 runs still needed to avoid an embarrassing innings defeat.
It was a pity that barely 500 odd people were present in the stands when country’s newest spin bowling star completed a rare milestone, becoming the 10th Indian to take five wicket-haul on debut. He was also the seventh spinner to reach the landmark in his maiden Test.
His final first innings figures read 22-10-33-6 which also showed the kind of relentless pressure he put on inexperienced Afghan batters, none of whom looked comfortable while trying to defend him.
Having impressed on the second afternoon with his trajectory and ability to extract turn from a slowish track, it was a matter of time that he would complete a five-for.
For the visitors, veteran Rahmat Shah (60 off 135 balls) was the only batter to offer some resistance before he became Suthar’s fifth victim, falling all over while trying to play a slog sweep.
Rahmat and injured Sharafuddin Ashraf (11) batted for almost 11 overs after Prasidh Krishna (3/37 in 11 overs) had Azmatullah Omarzai (0) played on with a 140 kmph delivery.
Ashraf, who was in considerable pain with what seemed like a hamstring injury, hobbled and at times Rahmat had to refuse easy singles which could have otherwise kept the scoreboard ticking.
Ashraf became Suthar’s fourth victim when he drew the batter forward and the delivery turned enough to kiss the outside edge into Rishabh Pant’s gloves.
Rahmat, who on the second day, became the first Afghan batter to complete 1000 Test runs, hit nine boundaries apart from a six but hardly looked comfortable against Suthar, who would repeatedly land the ball on the same spot over after over.
One-off Test: Suthar takes 6/33 on debut as India enforce follow-on against Afghanistan
