India vs Afghanistan, one-off Test match: Moments of the day

And, so it happened.

After all the frenzy, after all the buildup, after the plethora of emotional stories, after the various tales of valor kicking adversity away, Afghanistan finally became a Test playing nation.

It was a mixed-bag for the debutants, they were always behind the pace in Test cricket, they tried to catch up, fell behind again, and then tried again, got a toe in finally towards the end of the day.

The hosts, on the other hand, showed why they are the number one side in the world, they dictated proceedings right from ball one, but then as they were cruising along, they slipped and frittered away a solid start and Test cricket smiled again as the day ended.

Here in this slider, we take a look at five pivotal moments of the day.

#5 Afghanistan's late resurgence

Much like the gloomy clouds which kept descending on the ground, the day was looking to be a bleak one for the debutants, but much like they have done in their entire life, they never gave up and this sparked a revival towards the end of the day.

India, who were 280 for 1 at one stage, and were milking the opponents at a rate of more than five slipped and lost five wickets for 63 runs.

Dinesh Karthik, the wicket-keeper batsman who made his comeback to the Test side after a wait of eight years, was run out attempting a risky run, and this perfectly summed up how India tripped in the final phase of the day.

Although for much of the day, Afghanistan chased leather, they can now hope to knock over the hosts on Day 2 and stay afloat in the game as any score in excess of 450 will effectively shut them out of the game.

#4 Rashid's Test entry

The young leg-spinner was the biggest showstopper for Afghanistan leading into the Test match and rightly so.

However, for all his heroics with the white ball, he was taken to the cleaners by the Indian batsmen. His Sunrisers Hyderabad mate Shikhar Dhawan led the charge and smacked him all around the park.

The leggie then finally found something to work with towards the fag end of the day and was close to his best. He landed his deliveries on the perfect length and even prised out the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane to erase some of the pain inflicted on him.

#3 KL Rahul, 50 and out

After India galloped away to a rapid start, KL Rahul walked out at number three and looked to be in fine touch, just the like the way he batted in the Indian Premier League.

He never looked hassled, never in any type of trouble and almost breezed away to an unflappable half-century. Easy!

And then he stumbled, went for an ambitious cut to a ball which was not very wide and chopped it onto his stumps.

Another half-century which was not converted to a century!

#2 Murali Vijay's aesthetic century

When Murali Vijay gets going there are few better sights in the game and Thursday was no different for the right-hander as he almost eased away to a century.

Yes, the bowling could have been tighter, but Murali Vijay never looked out of shape and never looked to be bothered.

He left balls well outside the off stump and when the ball was in his zone, he caressed it away. Against seam and spin, Vijay looked in control until after his century when he misjudged the line of a delivery and offered no stroke only to be pinned in front of the stumps.

#1 Shikhar Dhawan's blazing century

It was a case of stealing thunder and Shikhar Dhawan snatched it away from Afghanistan on their first morning in Test cricket.

Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bat first and Dhawan got the ball rolling with few flashing strokes and then never ever stopped.

He became the first Indian batsman, and sixth overall, to score a century before lunch on the first day of a Test match.

He joined an elite list comprising Victor Trumper, Charles Macartney, Don Bradman, Majid Khan and David Warner when he breached the 100-figure mark.

The Delhi man sauntered to lunch on 104 off 91 balls with 19 fours and 3 sixes. He ran only 10 of his runs and took a special liking to Rashid Khan.