India, June 6 -- Battling demons of a horrendous home Test run in the not so distant past but nevertheless a formidable unit, India are pitted against a plucky Afghanistan in a one-off Test here that might help the hosts figure out a balanced combination, starting Saturday.

In 2018, Afghanistan lost 10 wickets in a session between lunch and tea on the second day of the Test against India. The next 10 fell by the wayside between tea and end of day's play, which also was end of the game.

In 2026, Hashmatullah Shahidi would want his team to at least stretch the home side, which is going through a tough transition phase and will be in experimental mode during this game, trying different combinations.

However, the Indians would not have for...