The declaration came at 1:33pm local time, signalled by captain Shubman Gill after Sundar reached his fifty The all-rounder, often shuffled in the batting order, once again underlined his value with the bat by mixing patience with timely aggression. His fifty was marked by a wristy flick for four off Safi, after slamming a commanding pull for six.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India\u2019s lower order added quick runs before Gill called time. Debutant Manav Suthar struck two lusty sixes to push the total past 500, but his attacking cameo ended when he became Safi\u2019s fifth victim. Mohammed Siraj was promoted ahead of Kuldeep Yadav and responded with a breezy 22 off 12 balls, including a six and three boundaries, before Safi cleaned him up. Kuldeep Yadav then joined Sundar and added nine runs before the declaration came.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Safi\u2019s spell was the highlight of Afghanistan\u2019s effort. Having gone wicketless in his previous four international appearances, the pacer found rhythm and consistency with the second new ball, exploiting variable bounce and mixing lengths to trouble India\u2019s batters. On a scorching Sunday in New Chandigarh, when India walked off after declaring their innings, Safi left the field with the match ball raised in acknowledgement of the sparse crowd.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India\u2019s innings was built on skipper Shubman Gill\u2019s authoritative 126, KL Rahul\u2019s century, Sai Sudharsan\u2019s 81 and Rishabh Pant\u2019s 81 earlier in the day. But the lower-order contributions ensured the hosts had a healthy run-rate of 4.44 and also placed the innings among India\u2019s fourth fastest 500-plus totals in Test history.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Safi\u2019s spell was the highlight of Afghanistan\u2019s effort. Having gone wicketless in his previous four international appearances, the pacer found rhythm and consistency with the second new ball, exploiting variable bounce and mixing lengths to trouble India\u2019s batters. On a scorching Sunday in New Chandigarh, when India walked off after declaring their innings, Safi left the field with the match ball raised in acknowledgement of the sparse crowd.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Brief Scores: India 564\/8 dec. in 127 overs (Shubman Gill 126, KL Rahul 100; Mohammad Saleem Safi 6-140, Hashmatullah Shahidi 1-91) against Afghanistan<\/p>\r\n\r\n