India vs Afghanistan Test: Shikhar Dhawan strikes unbeaten 104 as hosts reach 158/0 at lunch

BENGALURU: Opener Shikhar Dhawan (104 batting) struck a belligerent unbeaten century to become the first Indian to score a hundred before lunch as India scored 158 for no loss at lunch on the opening day against Afghanistan in the one-off historic test played at M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Thursday.

The inexperience on part of Afghanistani bowlers playing the longer format was evident as the Indian openers played at will.

The most to suffer was leg spinner Rashid Khan who had a great IPL but left clueless against free stroking Indian openers.

Murali Vijay (41 batting) was keeping company with Dhawan at lunch.

Shikhar made his intentions clear striking hard against Afghan medium pacers Yamin Ahmadzai and Wafadar though the former produced good pace and troubled the Indian openers in the first hour.

But India's scoring rate was always above five and it zoomed when spinners were introduced.

Ninety per cent of his score came through boundaries as he struck 19 fours and three huge sixes in his 91 ball unfinished innings scoring at the rate of over 114.

Shikhar dhawan was the sixth batsman in the world to reach that figure before lunch with others being Victor Trumper, Charly McCarthny, Don Brodman, Majid Khan and David Warner.

The openers had no difficulty in negotiating the Afghan spinners as Shikhar went hammer and tongs and the bowler to suffer most was IPL hero Rashid Khan.

The leg spinner returned with disappointing figures of 7-0-51-0.

Inexperience showed on part of off spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman as he conceded 32 runs in the four overs he bowled.

Throwing off his sluggish start, Vijay also showed up in the second hour hitting a huge six off Mujeeb and also struck six fours in his 72-ball innings.

Brief scores: India 158 for no wicket (Murali Vijay 41 batting, Shikhar dhawan 104 batting) vs Afghanistan.