Boisterous and excited before their inaugural Test match, Afghanistan crumbled twice with the bat on day two of their debut Test against India to lose by an innings and 262 runs. Records tumbled as the Asghar Stanikzai-led Afghanistan struggled to get their act together against a meticulous Indian side. Here we put together some of the telling stats from the one-off Test at Bengaluru.
1. Afghanistan's 21st century cricketers
Mujeeb Ur Rahman, aged 17, and his seam bowling teammate, Wafadar, became the first Test cricketers to be born in the 21st century. The Kings XI Punjab spinner, Mujeeb, was born in 2001, which also made him the youngest debutant in the inaugural Test of a country. He beat Hanif Mohammad's 66 year old record. The Pakistani was 17 years and 300 days old when he played first for his country in their first Test in 1952.
2. Yamin Ahmadzai, Asghar Stanikzai and Mohammad Shehzad take a slice of history
Yamin Ahmadzai delivered Afghanistan's very first ball in Test cricket when he took the brand new cherry against Murali Vijay on day one. Here is a list of all first ball bowlers from various countries.
England - Alfred Shaw
Australia - John Hodges
South Africa - Gus Kempis
West Indies - George Francis
New Zealand - Ted Badcock
India - Mohammad Nissar
Pakistan - Khan Mohammad
Sri Lanka - Ashantha de Mel
Zimbabwe - Eddo Brandes
Bangladesh - Hasibul Hossain
Ireland - Tim Murtagh
Asghar Stanikzai, who led the team out onto the field, was Afghanistan's first Test match skipper. The others who skippered their sides in their debut Tests are:
Australia - Dave Gregory
England - James Lillywhite jnr
South Africa - Owen Dunell
West Indies - Karl Nunes
New Zealand - Tom Lowry
India - CK Nayudu
Pakistan - Abdul Kardar
Sri Lanka - Bandula Warnapura
Zimbabwe - Dave Houghton
Bangladesh - Naimur Rahman
Ireland - William Porterfield
Mohammad Shehzad, meanwhile faced Afghanistan's first ball in Test cricket. The others to have done that for remaining Test nations are:
Players to face the first ball for each team in Tests:
Australia - Charles Bannerman
England - Harry Jupp
South Africa - Albert Rose-Innes
West Indies - George Challenor
New Zealand - Stewie Dempster
India - Janardan Navle
Pakistan - Nazar Mohammad
Sri Lanka - Bandula Warnapura
Zimbabwe - Kevin Arnott
Bangladesh - Shahriar Hossain
Ireland- Ed Joyce
3. A Test in June in India?
This is the first ever Test match to be held in the month of June in India. An off-season for Test cricket in the country, the Bengaluru Test was a rarity in the Indian sub-continent. They have also not hosted any Test matches in the months of May and July till date.
4. Dinesh Karthik’s 87 Test wait
Dinesh Karthik’s last Test match for India happened to be against Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2010. He made a return to the Test team for the one-off Test at Bengaluru after a wait of 8 years. In this time, India played 87 Tests, making it the longest wait for India in terms of Test matches. Parthiv Patel, another wicket-keeper, had previously held the record when he returned to the fold against England in 2016 after 8 years and 83 Tests.
5. Dhawan's insane craze for boundaries
Shikhar Dhawan’s 107 had 94 runs in boundaries contributing to 87.85% of the runs. This gives him the best boundary percentage in an innings of 100 or more in Test cricket.
87.85 - S Dhawan v Afghanistan - 2018
85.15 - G Gilmour v New Zealand - 1977
84.35 - H Gibbs v Zimbabwe - 2001
84.00 - B Dippenaar v New Zealand - 2000
6. Dhawan the first Indian to smash 100 before lunch on day 1
Dhawan cracked a century on day 1 before the end of the first session of play making him the sixth batsman in Tests and the first Indian to manage the feat. The others in the list are:
Victor Trumper v Eng - 1902
Charlie Macartney v Eng - 1921
Don Bradman v Eng - 1930
Majid Khan v NZ - 1976
David Warner v Pak - 2017
Shikhar Dhawan v Afg - 2018
7. Dhawan's third hundred in a session
The century of runs he made in a session isn't a one -off feat for Dhawan. This was the third time with only Sir Don Bradman (with six such scores) having achieved it more often. Dhawan equalled Victor Trumper and Wally Hammond, who have three apiece.
8. The least number of balls bowled in a winning Test by India
The 399 balls India bowled were the least in a Test match a winning Test match for the hosts.
399 v Afghanistan - Bengaluru, 2018
554 v Australia - Mumbai, 2004
569 v Bangladesh - Dhaka, 2007
596 v Zimbabwe - Harare, 2005
9. 24 wickets in a day
Though not quite a record, the 24 wickets that fell in the day is the fourth most in the history of Test cricket. Afghanistan were bowled out twice in the day, making it the fourth time such an event has occurred in Tests.
27 - Eng v Aus - Lord's, 1888
25 - Aus v Eng - MCG, 1902
24 - Eng v Aus - Oval, 1896
24 - Ind v Afg - Bengaluru, 2018
Teams bowled out twice in one day of Test cricket:
India - 58 and 82 v England - Manchester, 1952
Zimbabwe - 59 and 99 v New Zealand - Harare, 2005
Zimbabwe - 51 and 143 v New Zealand - Napier, 2012
Afghanistan - 109 and 103 v India - Bengaluru, 2018
10. Biggest win for India
The innings and 262 runs win is the highest margin by which India have ever won a Test match.
262 runs and an innings v Afghanistan - Bengaluru, 2018
239 runs and an innings v Bangladesh - Mirpur, 2007
239 runs and an innings v Sri Lanka - Nagpur, 2017
219 runs and an innings v Australia - Kolkata, 1998