CHITTAGONG: An unbeaten century stand between Rahmat Shah and Asghar Afghan steered Afghanistan to 191 for three at tea on the opening day of the one-off Test against Bangladesh on Thursday.
Afghanistan lost early wickets before Shah, on 48, and Afghan, on 97, put on 114 runs for the fourth wicket after the minnows elected to bat first in Chittagong.
The batting duo tackled the Bangladesh spinners with aplomb to ensure a wicketless session for the Afghans after they had slipped to 77 for three at lunch.
Shah completed his third successive Test 50, hitting nine fours and two sixes in his 180-ball stay at the crease.
Former captain Afghan also batted with patience to edge closer to what could be his second 50 in the five-day format.
In the first session Taijul Islam bowled opener Ihsanullah Janat for nine and became the fastest Bangladeshi bowler to reach 100 Test wickets.
Left-arm spinner Taijul, who struck twice in the morning session, also became the third Bangladeshi bowler after Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Rafique to achieve such a feat in the longer format in his 25th match.
Off-spinner Mahmudullah also chipped in when he forced Hashmatullah Shahidi to give a catch to Soumya Sarkar at slip for 14 in his first over.
Bangladesh fielded an all-spin attack without picking a single pace bowler while Afghanistan handed a Test debut to Ibrahim, Qais Ahmed and Zahir Khan.
Rashid became the youngest ever Test captain at the age of 20 years 350 days with the toss, overtaking the record of Zimbabwe's Tatenda Taibu, who made his debut as Test captain just eight days older than Rashid in 2004.
The Chittagong Test is the third five-day match for Afghanistan since they received Test status in 2017 and the first against Bangladesh.