India strengthened their position in the one-off Test versus Afghanistan on the second day in New Chandigarh. Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar impressed on debut after the hosts declared at 564 for eight. Batters built a large total before captain Shubman Gill ended the innings once Washington Sundar completed his half-century. Sundar finished not out on 52, his sixth Test fifty, while Mohammed Siraj added 22 from 12 deliveries. Earlier contributions included Gill’s 126, KL Rahul’s century, and 81 each from Sai Sudharsan and Rishabh Pant. Afghanistan began poorly when Suthar took a wicket in his opening over. Abdul Malik swept at a turning delivery and edged to backward square leg. Prasidh Krishna struck after tea, removing Sediqullah Atal with a delivery that hit the stumps. Suthar maintained tight control, bowling repeated maidens and inducing an edge from Rahmanullah Gurbaz that was caught at slip. Rahmat Shah remained unbeaten on 43, becoming the first Afghanistan batter to reach 1,000 Test runs. He shared a stand of 36 with Hashmatullah Shahidi. Prasidh returned to dismiss Shahidi lbw. Suthar claimed a third wicket when Afsar Zazai offered a return catch. Suthar ended with three for 21 from 15.5 overs, and Prasidh took two for 27. Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav kept up the pressure. Mohammad Saleem Safi took six for 140 for Afghanistan. At stumps Afghanistan were 113 for five after 39.5 overs, trailing by 451 runs.
