India did not take Afghanistan lightly: Ajinkya Rahane

A delighted Ajinkya Rahane praised his batsmen after India’s emphatic innings-and-262-run victory over Afghanistan in the Test at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Friday. Afghanistan, playing their first ever Test, gave a forgettable account of themselves, folding up in two sessions after managing totals of 109 and 103. India took 40 wickets on Friday after posting 474 in the first innings.

“The way we played, especially batting, Shikhar [Dhawan], [Murali] Vijay, [KL] Rahul, and Hardik [Pandya] … We did not take Afghanistan lightly. It was important for us to keep the basics and good habits,” Rahane said at the post-match presentation ceremony. Dhawan (107) and Vijay (105) scored tons as Rahul (54) and Pandya (71) racked up half-centuries to blunt the Afghan spin threat and post a challenging total.

Rahane praised Afghanistan pace duo of Yamin Ahmadzai and Wafader Momand, who shared 5 wickets between them and looked good in the final session of the opening day.

“Their seamers bowled really well, especially in the third session yesterday and I am sure they will go a long way,” Rahane added.

Afghan skipper Asghar Stanikzai expressed surprise at the match getting over in two days, adding that their batting let them down: “We were surprised with the match ending in two days because our team is good. Disappointed with the batting, but it is good for the future. We have a lot of time and camps to work on our weakness. Thanks to the fans supporting both teams,” Stanikzai said. “We haven’t played a Test match before, and now we are learning what we need to do in the future against full members.”

[with inputs from IANS]