India Beat Afghanistan By Innings And 300 Runs As Debutant Manav Suthar Steals The Show

India completed a comprehensive innings-and-300-run victory over Afghanistan in the one-off Test at the New Chandigarh Stadium on Monday, sealing the contest shortly after tea on the third day. The emphatic triumph became India's biggest-ever Test win in terms of an innings and runs, capping off a dominant performance led by debutant Manav Suthar and a strong showing from the spin attack.

Suthar Stars As Afghanistan Fold In First Innings

Resuming their first innings at 113/5, Afghanistan faced an uphill task against a confident Indian bowling attack. Rahmat Shah, unbeaten overnight on 43, returned alongside Azmatullah Omarzai, but the partnership failed to gather momentum after Prasidh Krishna bowled Omarzai early in the day.

Sharafuddin Ashraf attempted to steady the innings, but debutant Manav Suthar continued his impressive spell. The young spinner dismissed Ashraf before reaching a memorable milestone by removing Rahmat Shah for 60 and claiming a five-wicket haul on debut.

Suthar's dream outing continued when he dismissed Mohammad Saleem for a duck later in the same over. He eventually finished with figures of 6/33, registering the third-best bowling performance by an Indian on Test debut behind Narendra Hirwani's famous effort against the West Indies in 1988.

Afghanistan were eventually bowled out for 152, leaving them trailing by a massive margin after India's first-innings total of 564/8 declared, built around centuries from captain Shubman Gill and KL Rahul.

Sundar And Kuldeep Trigger Dramatic Collapse

Asked to follow on, Afghanistan briefly showed signs of resistance in their second innings. Openers helped the visitors reach 74/1, with Sediqullah Atal scoring 42 and Rahmanullah Gurbaz contributing 24.

However, India's bowlers quickly seized control as Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav exploited the deteriorating pitch conditions. The pair dismantled the middle and lower order, turning a promising position into a complete collapse.

Afghanistan lost their final nine wickets for just 38 runs and were bowled out for 112 in only 35.5 overs. Sharafuddin Ashraf, who was absent hurt, did not bat in the second innings.

Sundar Reflects On Successful Return To Red-Ball Cricket

After the match, Washington Sundar spoke about his rhythm and approach with the ball, highlighting the importance of consistency on a surface that offered assistance to bowlers.

"Felt really good, especially 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, I 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 little wide. Apart from that, I 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," Sundar said after the match.

Dream Debut Earns Suthar Player Of The Match Award

Suthar finished the Test with seven wickets across the match and also chipped in with 28 valuable runs, making a significant all-round contribution on debut.

His impact was recognised with the Player of the Match award as India wrapped up a one-sided contest in dominant fashion.

The focus now shifts to white-ball cricket, with India and Afghanistan set to meet in a three-match ODI series beginning on June 13 in Dharamsala.