Welcome to the coverage of the historic one-off Test match between India and Afghanistan at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.

It's the beginning of a historic new chapter in international cricket as world No 1 India take on a war-ravaged-but-resilient Afghanistan in their first ever Test match.

Ajinkya Rahane-led India will not spare an inch as they are expected to put up a ruthless show. India, sans their regular skipper Virat Kohli along with two frontline bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, will look to record a comprehensive win before embarking on their long and grueling tour of England, starting next month.

For Afghanistan, it will be a battle of attrition that they have never ever faced before. Test cricket is a different beast and Rashid's real battle starts now.

That he is a brilliant four-over bowler, is a known and acknowledged fact.

However, the Indians having watched and played against Rashid will be wary of what he can do.

That's the reason the Indian team management might just prefer a hard bouncy track knowing full well that a rank turner could boomerang on them.

The problem with Afghanistan will not be their spinners but their batsmen.

How well Shahzad, Mohammed Nabi negotiate Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will have a direct impact on the kind of fight Afghanistan will be able to put on.

And even before that they will have to counter the disconcerting bounce generated by Ishant Sharma and the pace worked up by Umesh Yadav.

The Indian batsmen in their own backyard are not known to pull back punches and the likes of Rahane, Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay will be looking to continue their domination at home with some huge scores.