India put every rumour of an upset to rest right from the first ball and displayed complete domination on both days to hand Afghanistan a massive defeat by an innings and 262 runs at the Chinnaswamy on their Test debut.

Opting to bat first, India’s openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay attacked the debutants and put them on the back foot within the first 20 minutes. While Vijay started off cautiously, Dhawan remained the aggressor and belted every bowler that came his way.

Rashid Khan’s confidence was dented in his very first over in Test cricket when Dhawan hit him for 13 runs. The prolific left hander completed his fifty in 47 balls before going onto become the first Indian batsman to score a hundred in the first session of Day one.

When the umpires called for Lunch, India were sitting pretty at 158/0. But Afghanistan struck right after the first session when Yamin Ahmadzai forced an outside edge off Dhawan’s (107) bat that went to Mohammad Nabi on the second attempt. KL Rahul joined forces with Murali Vijay as the duo kept the scoreboard ticking. Soon after scoring his fifty, Vijay too got a little free flowing seeing that the threat from the spinners wasn’t going to trouble him.

Rahul, batting ahead of Pujara at number three, was also striking the ball well before rain interrupted play forcing for an early Tea. After a couple of hiccups when play resumed, Rahul reached his fifty and Vijay, who was left stranded on 99 also completed his Test ton with a four over point.

This was all before Afghanistan decided to fightback. India lost KL Rahul (54) and Murali Vijay (105) to Ahmadzai and Wafadar in the space of three balls. Cheteshwar Pujara stuck around for a while before Mujeeb had him caught at leg slip. By then, India had already lost their skipper, Ajinkya Rahane, for 10 to Rashid Khan.

Dinesh Karthik, walking in the whites after 8 long years, ran himself out before Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin took India to 347/6 at stumps. Afghanistan had scripted a nice fight back, picking 5 wickets in the final session.

Day two started with Hardik Pandya and Ashwin adding runs without losing a wicket for the first half-an hour. Pandya mixed caution with aggression and took calculated risks to score at a brisk pace. After picking up Ashwin, Afghanistan almost removed Jadeja immediately too but Zazai let an opportunity go begging. Hardik added to their misery and hit Rashid Khan for three successive fours in a single over taking him out of the attack for the first time on Day two.

Hardik brought his third Test fifty up soon and kept adding to the scoreboard along with Jadeja. The duo added 67 valuable runs before Jadeja was dismissed. Hardik too fell soon on 71, trying to play a ramp shot. An extended first session saw Umesh Yadav entertain the crowd and add 25 unbeaten runs before Afghanistan bowled India out for 474.

Mohammad Shahzad became the first Afghan to face a ball in Test cricket and hit a four before a splendid throw from Hardik Pandya at point saw his innings cut short. What followed next was absolute domination from the number one ranked Test side. Ishant cleaned up Javed Ahmadi (1) before Rahmat Shah (14) and Afsar Zazai (6) fell in quick succession.

Their skipper Asghar Stanikzai (11) was cleaned up by a peach from Ashwin who went to jostle the middle order by removing Hashmatullah Shahidi (11) and Yamin Ahmadzai (0). Ravindra Jadeja from the other end bagged Rashid Khan (7) as Mohammad Nabi kept losing partners from the other end. He finally fell to Ashwin for 24, Afghanistan’s top scorer in the match. Mujeeb swung his bat around for 15, went after Jadeja for a while before being stumped as Afghanistan bundled out for 109 in the second session.

India enforced a follow on, asking Afghanistan to bat for the second time on the same day. But the story was no different. This time, Umesh Yadav struck early to remove Shahzad (13), Ahmadi (3) and Nabi (0) while Ishant got rid of Rahmat (4) with Afghanistan reeling at 24/4.

Skipper Asghar Stanikzai along with Shahidi showed some resistance as India went wicketless for 37 runs. But Stanikzai lost his cool, and as a result, his wicket to Jadeja falling for 25.

Jadeja saw an opening and was quick to pounce when he dismissed Afsar Zazai for 1. Shahidi looked their most promising batsman in the second innings but struggled to find support as Jadeja removed Rashid (12). A fine yorker saw Ishant dismiss Ahmadzai (3). Ravindra Jadeja snared his fourth of the inning when Mujeeb fell to him.

All this while Shahidi kept battling from the other end. His resistance and Afghanistan’s first Test came to an end as soon as Ashwin got Wafadar.

Shikhar Dhawan was named the ‘Man of the Match’ with India winning by a margin of an innings and 262 runs.

India will now travel to Ireland for a two-match T20I series starting June 27.