Afghans wake up after tea

Bengaluru, June 15

It was Afghanistan’s day. Yes, they were indeed thrilled and nervous to begin with; they did concede 280/1 at one stage, in some 51 overs, their pacers looking toothless and their spinners nervous and erratic. But the nerves eventually settled; India played a few false strokes, Afghanistan’s bowlers bowled some good balls and took five wickets for 63 runs in the final session. That halted the Indian charge, and Afghanistan edged back into the game. At 347/6, India are in control, but Afghanistan are not out of the game.
The way Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay started, there was real danger that Afghanistan were going to be batted out of the game. The Afghans didn’t start too badly for a team of 11 debutants, with Yamin Ahmadzai beating Dhawan in the very first over with one that rose outside off; the teenager Wafadar, who bowled the second over, allowed Dhawan to recover with short deliveries outside the off-stump. Ahmadzai then beat Vijay, who inside-edged the ball past his leg stump.
But the pacers then lost control — they erred by bowling short or wide, and sometimes on the leg, and were promptly punished by the batsmen, especially Dhawan. The few Afghans in the stands continued to wave their flags and banners, but their shouts were easily drowned by the home partisans.
Afghanistan’s inexperience showed: Vijay was uncertain around his off-stump, but there was no catcher at third slip, and the ball was too far from the Mohammad Shahzad, the plumpest man in Test cricket right now. Another instance: Wafadar beat Dhawan and the Afghans appealed for caught-behind but didn’t get a decision in their favour; captain Asghar Stanikzai did not go for the review despite urgings from Shahzad. Ultra Edge replays showed that there indeed was an edge. Dhawan, on 23, survived.