Bowlers give India reason to be confident ahead of England tour

By finishing the one-off Test against Afghanistan within two days, India earned some extra time to prepare for the upcoming tour of England in July.

India were ruthless. Afghanistan were dismissed for 109 and 103 on the second day – the first instance of a team being bowled out twice on the same day on Indian soil – as India completed their biggest ever victory by an innings.

Ajinkya Rahane, the India captain in the absence of Virat Kohli, lauded his bowlers, and said it was crucial for the team "to create some good habits" ahead of a tough five-match Test series in England.

"It was important for us to create some good habits, be ruthless,” said Rahane. “After batting, our bowlers did really well. Getting 10 in each session is not easy against any team.

It wasn't just the bowling performance that was noteworthy. Shikhar Dhawan (107) and Murali Vijay (105), the India openers, brought up centuries, while KL Rahul (54) and Hardik Pandya (71) scored half-centuries as India posted a daunting 474.

Rahane said the knocks of the openers, in particular, set them up well for the overseas season coming up.

"The takeaways are Shikhar and Vijay’s hundreds. (It was a) special thing,” Rahane said. “Vijay took his time played after two months. Shikhar batted in IPL and carried on his good form."

In the three-match series in South Africa in January, which India lost 1-2, the visitors had taken 20 wickets wherever possible, and Rahane, who played just one Test on that tour had played a crucial role in the final Test in Johannesburg, which India had won.

“(Our bowlers) ... they were patient yet ruthless thinking about getting wickets. As a batting unit, even if you score 325 runs, if your bowlers are able to take 20 wickets, you have the best chance to win the Test match,” he said.

“(In) Test matches outside India, we have to take 20 wickets. We did that in South Africa. We took 60 wickets in South Africa.”

England will present a similarly tough challenge, but India will be bolstered by the return of regular captain Virat Kohli, who underwent a fitness Test in Bengaluru on Friday.

Pitches in England will be in stark contrast to those in India, and the seamer-friendly track at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was prepared keeping that in mind.

“We wanted to create such a pitch because we are going to play five Tests in England, so that we could get practice as per what we are going to get in England.”

Rahane believed the experience in the Indian squad, most of who were on tour in 2014 when India last travelled to England for a Test series, will come in handy.

"Patience is the key as a bowling unit," said Rahane. "For me, it was really easy as Ishant had just played county games and was in good rhythm. Umesh had bowled well in the IPL. These guys are experienced, they know what to do, so it was really simple.

“I am really happy we have such a good attack. Kuldeep was on the bench (but) he actually did well in a Test match and in the shorter format. (Ravindra) Jadeja and (Ravichandran) Ashwin ... you all know how good they are. So for me it was just standing at slip and concentrating.”