Records tumble in New Chandigarh as India thrash Afghanistan by an innings inside three days

Team India made a dominant return to the Test arena after nearly seven months, demolishing Afghanistan by an innings and 300 runs in a one-off Test in New Chandigarh on Monday. The Shubman Gill-led side bundled Afghanistan out for 152 and 112 after posting a mammoth 564/8 declared on the board to complete a lop-sided victory inside three days at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium.

The victory is India's biggest ever in the Test format when it comes to innings wins, surpassing their innings and 272-run thrashing of West Indies in Rajkot under Virat Kohli's leadership in 2018. It's also the 10th biggest innings victory in the format, with England's record innings and 579-run victory over Ashes rivals Australia in 1938 remaining unbroken nearly a century later.

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Spinners take centre-stage after dominant batting display

The Indian spin department played a key role in bowling Afghanistan out cheaply twice in the space of a day in New Chandigarh, which made its Test debut with the one-off fixture. Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar led the way with figures of 6/33 on international debut during Afghanistan's first innings.

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Off-spinner Washington Sundar (4/36) and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav (3/30) would then have the opposition batters dancing to their tunes on Day 3, sharing seven of the nine wickets that fell on the day after captain Gill enforced the follow-on with Sharafuddin Ashraf being absent hurt.

Captain Gill (126) and newly-appointed vice-captain KL Rahul (100) had earlier struck centuries while the trio of Sai Sudharsan (81), Rishabh Pant (81) and Sundar (52 not out) brought up fifties as the hosts posted what would prove to be a match-winning score after batting for nearly two days.

For Hashmatullah Shahidi's men, who were missing star leg-spinner Rashid Khan, pacer Mohammad Saleem was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 6/140.

Afghanistan had made their Test debut against India in 2018, playing a one-off match against a second-string Indian team led by Ajinkya Rahane at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium. India had also won that game by an innings after electing to bat, bowling the Afghans out for 109 and 103 after posting 474 to win.

The dominant performance in New Chandigarh, however, will not boost their chances of reaching the ICC World Test Championship final next year as the one-off match was not part of the 2025-27 WTC cycle.