Ind vs Afg – Mohammad Saleem limits damage despite extreme heat and unhelpful pitch

Afghanistan fast bowler Mohammad Saleem garnered praise from all corners for his 6 for 140 in India’s first innings in the one-off Test in New Chandigarh. The Afghanistan batters, though, let the side down. At stumps on day two, they were reeling at 113 for 5, still 451 runs behind India.

However, things could have been worse if not for Saleem. Bowling consistently around 140kph in oppressive heat, he played a crucial role in limiting the damage. Having dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and B Sai Sudharsan on Saturday, Saleem had Shubman Gill caught behind for 126 with the second new ball that was about nine overs old by then.

A few overs later, Dhruv Jurel misjudged the line and shouldered arms, only for the ball to hit the top of off stump. Later, Saleem dismissed Manav Suthar and Mohammed Siraj before India declared their innings on 564 for 8.

“He was just fantastic,” Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus said of Saleem. “If you come here and you take six wickets in extreme heat against high-quality batting, that goes very well – not just for him as a bowler, but for us as a side. He just held a length. And I think if you hold a length, you’re in the game the whole time.”

India allrounder Washington Sundar was equally effusive in his praise. “That was honestly high-quality bowling,” he said. “There was not much in the pitch for the seamers. Only when you hit the seam over a period of time, you sort of get a little bit of purchase. To hit the seam consistently over a number of overs takes a lot of skill and attitude.

“He bowled long spells – think every single spell he bowled, he bowled more than four, five, [or] even six overs in one of the spells. You understand how tough he is as a character.”

“We were exceptionally rusty. Without throwing anybody under the bus, I think there was a lack of conviction in decision-making.”

Pybus on Afghanistan’s reluctance in taking DRS calls

Things could have been much better for Afghanistan had they been less hesitant to use the DRS for close calls. In the fourth over of the day, the 89th of India’s innings, Azmatullah Omarzai pinged Gill on the pads but umpire Sharfuddoula ruled it not out. On the following delivery, Omarzai went up for a caught-behind appeal against Rishabh Pant. Sharfuddoula was once again unmoved. Afghanistan didn’t use the DRS on either occasion. Replays showed both batters were out.

On Saturday, KL Rahul should have been out for 16 had Afghanistan reviewed the caught-behind non-decision. He went on to make 100.

“We were exceptionally rusty,” Pybus said. “Without throwing anybody under the bus, I think there was a lack of conviction in decision-making.

“At the end of the day, the skipper has got a very short period of time to make those decisions. He has got a couple of guys that he is speaking to for the decision-making process. He has got the wicketkeeper, who has to give him his alignment. He has got a point who needs to give him height. And he is reliant on the bowler as well in terms of what the bowler is seeing in front of him. So we chatted about it afterwards because we were obviously way off the pace with that, and it cost us.”

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