Rashid Khan wicketless until his 21st over, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman wicketless until his 11th, Mohd Nabi wicketless. Period. Shikar Dhawan century, Murali Vijay century, KL Rahul, the usual half-century. Welcome to Test cricket Afghanistan, welcome to reality. Then again it was a matter of learning from it all and coming back the better for it, which they did as India, 284 for two at one stage, ended the day on 347 for six.

The rain interruptions in the post-lunch and tea sessions worked more for the visitors, more so for Rashid in his third spell during the fag end of the extended day's play, as the leggie finally looked like the bowler he can be. The day though started nice and bright but once Ajinkya Rahane had won the toss and elected to bat on the batting-friendly Chinnaswamy Stadium here yesterday, things went dim for the visitors.