Modi congratulated and wished luck both the teams.India skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and opted to bat in the one-off Test against debutants Afghanistan
“Its a matter of great pride and immense pleasure that Afghanistan has chosen to play its maiden Test match with India. The young and talented Afghan National Team has made a great stride in a very short period of time after it become an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council in 2001,” Mr. Modi said in a message read out by sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore here.
Afghanistan is set to become the 12th nation to play Test cricket as skipper Asghar Stanikzai opted for a spin-heavy playing XI at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium here.
For the hosts sans regular skipper Virat Kohli, wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik made a comeback to the Test side after almost eight years.
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Lokesh Rahul, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.
Afghanistan: Mohammad Shahzad, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Stanikzai(c), Afsar Zazai(w), Mohammad Nabi, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Yamin Ahmadzai, Wafadar.
