Rahane had little hesitation in electing to bat first as India fielded a strong XI for the one-off Test.
Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss on Thursday as Afghanistan made their Test debut at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Rahane had little hesitation in electing to bat first as India fielded a strong XI for the one-off Test. With the conditions scheduled to be cloudy for the course of the match, the hosts could have a disadvantage batting fourth.
"We're going to bat first. Looks like a good wicket to bat on. There's some grass but in India it's important to bat first. Crucial. Important to start well after the IPL/T20 season," said Rahane.
"Historic moment for both nations. The boys are very confident, especially the last Test we played in Jo'burg against South Africa. Our preparation has been fantastic, and it's been about tuning our mind rather than our skills. Coming from T20, it's all about changing your attitude and mindset. The guys are really looking forward to it. Always an honour to captain India. We are not taking them lightly at all. All opponents are the same, and we wish to be ruthless here. The guys left out are Kuldeep, Saini, Nair, and Shardul," he added.
Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai looked a proud man as he stepped up for the historic toss. "Proud that we are playing our first Test. All the guys have some first-class experience, but our first Test, obviously. First one hour, it will be a good wicket for bowling, so happy to be bowling first. If we get wickets, it'll be good for us," he said.
Stanikzai added another first in Test match history as he named each and every member of Afghanistan's playing XI.
Playing XIs of both teams
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 (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Yamin Ahmadzai, Wafadar.
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