India opt to bat in Afghanistan's debut Test

Bengaluru, June 14 (IANS) India skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and opted to bat in the one-off Test against debutants Afghanistan here Thursday.

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.