In an innings where Afghanistan bowlers were left scratching their heads and ruing their luck, Mohammed Saleem did not leave anything to fate.  | Photo Credit: RV MOORTHY

Despite having bowled 22 overs in the furnace of the June sun, Mohammed Saleem had the legs to make a 40-yard dash in celebration after Manav Suthar’s wicket on Sunday. The moment demanded no less.

The 23-year-old had plied tirelessly for over four sessions and his reward was a maiden five-wicket haul against India. The delivery to nab Suthar was bowled at 144kmph; there had been several other deliveries over 140kmph.

In an innings where Afghanistan bowlers were left scratching their heads and ruing their luck, Saleem did not leave anything to fate. Despite ceding the new-ball spell to Ziaur Rahman Sharifi and Azmatullah Omarzai, Saleem used the slowness of the wicket to trouble batters.

To do so in only his second Test, more than two years from his last game, was a feat in its own right.

Saleem’s only Test appearance came more than two years ago. He last played a multi-day game in June 2025 for Pamir Legends in the Ahmad Shah Abdali tournament back home. It took time to dust away that rust.

His start was wayward, and he even got his victim, Yashasvi Jaiswal, strangled down leg but Saleem set his scopes at the fourth-stump channel and looked the most threatening bowler in the visiting camp.

“What I enjoyed about him was his consistency today. He’s not a 145-150 bowler, he’s super consistent. Yesterday we were way off for test-level bowling. It’s just that consistency, with the ball which we’re using, it’s got a proud seam, so it grips the surface. There’s enough in that surface that if you are consistent, the seam will give you enough. Just enough to take the edge. He was just fantastic, and he just held a length, and I think if you hold a length, you’re in the game the whole time,” head coach Richard Pybus said after the second day.

Gill was Saleem’s first scalp on Sunday, and though the wicket came in the 11th over of the day, the Indian captain had been squared up more than once before his fall. Going for a flick and closing the bat face early, Gill saw the ball tail away after pitching, take the edge and miss the cordon or squirt away through point.

It was not just seam movement that planted doubt. Dhruv Jurel was left red-faced as he shouldered arms expecting the ball to move away only for it to move in and crash his gate. Then there was the effort ball, above his average 135-138kmph zone that surprised Sai Sudharsan and Suthar and disrupted their rhythm while driving.

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Had Afghanistan employed their reviews better, Saleem might have ended with fewer wickets. But by the time India declared its innings on 564 for eight, Saleem was the only one who did not bow down to circumstances.

His marathon 27-over spell drew praise from Washington Sundar too at the post-match press conference.

“It was a high-quality performance. If you look at the conditions, there wasn’t much on offer for the seamers unless you kept hitting the right areas consistently. For Saleem to do that over long spells shows his skill and character. He kept hitting the seam, extracted whatever little help was there, and maintained that intensity throughout.

“Bowling those long spells in such heat isn’t easy. It speaks volumes about his fitness and mental strength. Performances like these are what you expect in Test cricket, and he was outstanding. Congrats to him. Coming to India and picking up a six-fer as a seamer is amazing.”

It was precisely the sort of performance that inspires a team, especially one that is still establishing a foothold in Test cricket. A bunch of Afghan bowlers have picked five wickets in an innings, but none made ripples like Saleem did.

Even if India romps to an easy win over the next two days, Saleem’s effort will not go down as a mere footnote.

“But just that consistency, if you come here to bowl, you take six wickets in extreme heat against high-quality batting, that plays very well, not just for him as a bowler, but for us as a side,” Pybus said.

Published on Jun 08, 2026