Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai said he was surprised at how quickly the inaugural Test against India ended in Bengaluru, saying the team is much better than the scorecard suggests.

India bowled out Afghanistan twice in a day as they secured victory by an innings and 262 runs. It was the 21st time a Test had finished inside two days and the fourth instance of a team being bowled out twice in a day. Afghanistan’s batsmen were all at sea against India’s pacers and spinners. Captain Stanikzai said his players can only improve from here.

“We were surprised by how quickly things ended because we are a good team,” Stanikzai was quoted as saying by AFP.

“Test cricket is totally different from T20 and one day matches. But this was good for us and good for the future. We have a lot of time and we will work on our weaknesses” he added.

Afghanistan were expected to put up a better fight, with Stanikzai earlier declaring his team has better spinners than India. But the visitors were not match for Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who picked up five and six wickets respectively.

Afghanistan coach Phil Simmons said the team needs to see the Bengaluru Test as part of the learning curve.

“The learning curve is huge, it’s a mountain to climb. But they want to succeed and they work very hard but now we know that we have to work five times as hard,” Simmons said. “I believe we will get there.”

India skipper Ajinkya Rahane too believes Afghanistan will only grow stronger from their opening experience.

“The more and more they play, they will learn. It’s just the beginning for them,” Rahane said.

“You cannot blame them. They tried their best. Test cricket is all about attitude and patience and they have been playing a lot of T20 cricket. With their bowling they can damage any team. They need to learn with their batting. If two or three guys can bat for a long period then they can be a decent side.”