India opt to bat against Afghanistan in one-off Test

India skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to bat first against Afghanistan in their one-off cricket Test in New Chandigarh on Saturday.

Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar made his India debut on a hot and humid day, with the pitch expected to get slower and lower as the match progresses at India's newest Test venue.

India, ranked third in world Test rankings, would be looking to bounce back after suffering a 2-0 defeat to South Africa at home in November in their most recent Test outing.

The match is not part of the World Test Championship cycle, but a key game for Afghanistan who played their debut five-day game in India in 2018.

Since then, Afghanistan, led by Hashmatullah Shahidi, have played 12 Tests and won four.

The Afghans handed a Test debut to left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote and went in with three seamers and two spinners.

Teams

India: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (capt), Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

Afghanistan: Sediqullah Atal, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Nangeyalia Kharote, Ziaur Rahman, Mohammad Saleem.

Umpires: Richard Illingworth (ENG), Sharfuddoula (BAN)

TV Umpire: Chris Gaffaney (NZL)

Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

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