Suthar's debut six-for powers India to their biggest Test win
After Suthar helped skittle Afghanistan for 152 in their first innings, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav sealed the win
After Suthar helped skittle Afghanistan for 152 in their first innings, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav sealed the win
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Abhijato (@ob_jato)
4.05pm And with that, we are done! What a day of Test cricket, plenty of lessons learnt for Afghanistan. India's biggest ever win. You can read the report here. Manav Suthar a potential future star for Indian cricket. For now, from me and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo, bbye!
Shubman Gill: "Ticked all the boxes, very happy with that. It was very hot, if we get them before lunch, we will follow on... Otherwise we would have batted a couple more sessions. But quick wickets... On wickets like these, how to set the batsmen up? Keep testing them in different areas. It's pretty simple, when you are batting first position, post big total. Take upwards of 20 wickets. The batting group is under more pressure, we are trying to get experience, what game can work for us in different conditions."
Manav Suthar is Player of the Match! He says: "Unreal feeling, top of the world, my dream from the beginning was to play Test cricket for India. When I went to bat, I felt good, I settled slowly, played 2-4 balls, found out the wicket has something for spinners. Tried using line and length, and pace. At the start, I wanted to see how the wicket is playing. So, I backed the stock delivery. Needed pace, so I started subtle variations. Proud that I bowled with the new ball [in second innings]... Heat of the moment, I thought that wicket [first over] was completely out... Learned that I need to bowl on the same spot, consistently. Test cricket is a game of patience, so just bowl with patience."
Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan captain, speaks: "Congratulations to India team on the performance. Tough game for us. Our discipline with the bowling was not that good. They played well right from the start. The reality is we don't have that experience in the format. We learned a lot from this game. We don't get enough opportunities to play in this format. India tough team to play in these conditions. Hopefully, we learn to play under pressure, as things get tougher. [On positives] Especially Saleem, part of the team before this but he got injured in the middle of tours. Very happy for him. Batting also, Rahmat played well in the first innings. Sadiq was also good in the second innings. [Suthar] Bowled stump to stump, very disciplined in his bowling. If you look at pitch, it also changed session by session."
They're taking a bit of time with setting up the post-match presentation, if you're still around! Aha, now we start. Strap in folks.
3:04pm India's biggest win in Test cricket, thanks to the 14 wickets they picked up today to hasten the end of the game. If it was Suthar who ran riot in the first innings with a six-wicket haul, Washington and Kuldeep shares seven wickets between them in the second. More than the surface or the bowling, the shot selection of Afghanistan's batters will be talked about. They could take a cue from how Rahmat played in the first innings and Atal in the second till he lost patience.
Overall, a very good game for India, who came into the Test match on the back of a healthy dose of T20 cricket. Apart from Rahul and Gill's centuries, Sai Sudharsan's knock at No. 3 and Suthar's returns would please India given the away tours on the horizon. A good all-round game for Washington also bodes well for the challenges they are likely to face in Sri Lanka and then later in New Zealand.
Washington Sundar: "Felt really good, specially to play this format after a while. Just wanted to get a lot of volume. I was getting my rhythm right from ball one. I didn't really think about the pace. Just worked on getting my rhythm right. This morning as well, wanted to keep it coming, keep the lines and lengths consistent. The wicket had something in it. Towards the end I wanted to bowl a litle wide. Apart from that, wanted to be close to the stumps. If we bowled a little back of length, batters got a lot of time. So wanted to get that right. [On the use of reviews] Part and parcel. We go with our experience. Go with our gut. It is about using techology at the best. Felt good with bat and ball. Wanted to show discipline. Glad the way I approached the innings."
Mohammad Saleem c Sai Sudharsan b Kuldeep Yadav 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
Mohammad Saleem strides out. Which means Ashraf is unlikely to bat
Nangeyalia Kharote c Suthar b Kuldeep Yadav 6 (16m 11b 0x4 1x6) SR: 54.54
Hello again people. I did not expect the Test to finish today, but hey, here we are. Kuldeep continues
And now, Suds is here to take this game to its (potential) end here. Say hello!
Also: has Lord's hosted the most Tests of any ground in the world?
Afghanistan defeat was driven by a string of setbacks and mistakes, including a key injury, missed reviews, reckless batting, and a lack of Test-match experience
After predicting how the pitch would play, Washington Sundar executed the plan perfectly and delivered a match-winning all-round display
After Suthar helped skittle Afghanistan for 152 in their first innings, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav sealed the win
Plus, Shubman Gill's dream run as captain and an unwanted record for KL Rahul