India, June 7 -- India are not simply running away in the one-off Test match because Afghanistan had no answers. That would be the easy reading. The harder truth is that Afghanistan kept finding small doors back into the match, only to walk past them.

By the second morning of the one-off Test in New Chandigarh, India had already built the innings around KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant. Rahul's century on Day 1 had come after an early reprieve. Gill had resumed unbeaten after reaching three figures. Pant, already set overnight, was beginning to stretch the innings with his usual force. At 398/3, India were strong, but the second new ball had started giving Afghanistan something.

Azmatullah Omarzai produced the spel...