NEW DELHI: Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar announced his arrival on the Test stage in stunning fashion, weaving a web around Afghanistan’s batters as a ruthless India cruised to a record-breaking innings-and-300-run victory in the one-off Test at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Monday.Making his Test debut, the 23-year-old from Rajasthan starred with the ball, returning figures of 6/33 in the first innings before adding another wicket in the second to finish with a seven-wicket match haul. Such was India’s dominance that the contest was effectively decided in the first innings itself. After being put in to bat, India piled up a mammoth 564/8 declared, powered by magnificent centuries from KL Rahul and captain Shubman Gill. Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar chipped in with valuable half-centuries as the hosts batted Afghanistan out of the game.The visitors had no answers to India’s spin attack and were bundled out for 152 in their first innings, conceding a massive 412-run lead. Suthar was the chief destroyer, ripping through the batting line-up with a six-wicket haul on debut.Asked to follow on, Afghanistan’s resistance lasted only 35.5 overs in the second innings. India’s bowlers once again ran through the batting order to seal a crushing victory and complete one of the most one-sided contests in recent Test history.The win by an innings and 300 runs is India’s biggest victory in Test cricket, eclipsing the previous record of an innings and 272 runs against the West Indies in Rajkot in 2018.Incidentally, India’s third-largest Test win also came against Afghanistan, when they secured an innings-and-262-run victory in Bengaluru in 2018.Suthar’s figures of 6/33 were not only instrumental in the victory but also placed him among an elite group of Indian bowlers to claim a six-wicket haul on Test debut
India’s biggest Test wins (by margin)
- Innings & 300 runs vs Afghanistan, New Chandigarh (2026)
- Innings & 272 runs vs West Indies, Rajkot (2018)
- Innings & 262 runs vs Afghanistan, Bengaluru (2018)
- Innings & 239 runs vs Bangladesh, Mirpur (2007)
- Innings & 239 runs vs Sri Lanka, Nagpur (2017)
India’s innings-and-300-run victory over Afghanistan surpassed the previous national record of an innings and 272 runs against the West Indies in Rajkot eight years ago.The win is also among the 10 biggest victories in the history of Test cricket, jointly ranking as the 10th-largest winning margin by innings.
