Manav Suthar makes debut as India win toss and opt to bat first against Afghanistan in one-off Test

India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and decided to bat first against Afghanistan in the one-off Test against Afghanistan on Saturday, June 6 at the New PCA Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.

India handed a debut to left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, who plays for Rajasthan in domestic cricket. Afghanistan also gave the first Test cap to their left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote for the one-off clash.

This is only the second Test match taking place between India and Afghanistan. India had defeated Afghanistan in 2018 in what was the maiden Test for the Afghans.

Gill says India trying to get combinations right

Explaining the rationale behind choosing to bat first, captain Gill said that the wicket will get slower as the game progresses due to the heat in New Chandigarh.

More from Firstcricket

"Very hot and humid here, so I think as the time goes by, the wicket is going to get slower and it's going to get low. Looks like a good surface. I think a little bit drier, obviously because of the heat. It's been very hot for the past few weeks here and I think it's going to stay the same," Gill said after winning the toss.

Talking about the objectives from this Test, he said, "Just trying to get our combinations right and a lot of things as a batting group that we need to prove, especially here. So those are things that we are looking to."

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi also wanted to bat first. He also rued the fact that Afghanistan hardly get to play Tests.

"We don't get enough chances playing Test cricket. But yeah, we are ready for the challenge and we always accept challenge. We like challenges and this is the new challenge for us. We are well prepared for this game and we had a good preparation camp in Jalalabad in Kabul. So, looking forward now and very excited for the game," Shahidi said.

India vs Afghanistan Playing 11s

India Playing XI: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Afghanistan Playing XI: Sediqullah Atal, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Afsar Zazai(w), Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Nangeyalia Kharote, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi, Mohammad Saleem Safi