India vs England, 3rd Test, Day 1: Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja tons & Sarfaraz Khan's fifty on debut take India to 326-5 at stumps. Session-wise highlights of Day 1, Rajkot Test.
Brief Scores: IND 326/5 (Rohit 131, Jadeja 110*, Wood 3/69) at Stumps on Day 1.
India fought back from the early struggles of 3/33, on the back of the 204-run fourth wicket stand between Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. Both of them notched up their respective centuries before Sarfaraz Khan’s quickfire 62 ended India’s day on 326-5.
England started the series with a 28-run win in Hyderabad. India made a comeback in Visakhapatnam with a 106-run victory. Both teams locked horns for the first day of the third
Test at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.
Talking point: England’s young spin attack looked ineffective against Rohit-Jadeja
India were in a spot of bother at 33/3, when Rohit and Jadeja joined each other to steady the ship. Even though, England’s pacers gave them early wickets, their inexperienced spin attack looked ineffective against both the batters, who fought back with a 204-run partnership. The line and lengths were inconsistent and India took full advantage of it.
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India opted to bat, and Sarfaraz and Jurel made India debuts
India captain Rohit Sharma, on winning the toss, opted to bat first on a pitch that had a nice covering of grass. Mark Wood returned in the eleven for England. India handed debut caps to Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel, as Ravindra Jadeja came back from injury.
England rocked India early before Rohit fought back with 52*, India 93/3 at lunch
India started with an aggressive intent with boundaries coming at ease in the first couple of overs. But Wood drew first blood, as he found the outside edge of Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) with late movement. Shubman Gill looked awful with a little front-foot stride in his short stay of nine balls. He gave catching practice to Ben Foakes on a duck as Wood managed his second wicket.
Tom Hartley got some spin early on his spell. Rajat Patidar (5), looking to cut the short ball, was surprised by the extra bounce and was caught at the cover region. Since then, Rohit and Jadeja steadied the ship with an unbeaten 60-run fourth wicket stand. The former celebrated his 17th Test fifty to take India to 93/3 at lunch.
Rohit-Jadeja strengthen India with 152* run stand, India 185/3 at tea
Both Rohit and Jadeja began the second session with so much concentration. Wood kept on asking questions to both the batters with a short ball barrage. Hartley kept on bowling at a consistent line and length with Stokes keeping the fielders on the boundary. Rohit danced down the track to clear the long-on for a huge six.
Jadeja soon brought up his 21st Test half-century with a single, as the fourth wicket stand went past the 100-run mark. They kept on taking comfortable singles before Jadeja crunched a six over mid-wicket. India went to tea without any damage at 185/3.
India end on 326/5 thanks to twin centuries from Rohit & Jadeja
Just on the third ball after the break, Rohit got the monkey off his back as he celebrated his 11th Test century with a couple of runs. Jadeja too looked to take on the bowlers with few aggressive shots. Stokes kept Wood on the attack with the short balls and finally got the deserving wicket. Rohit (131) looked to trigger him for a pull shot. But the ball rushed on him, and Rohit found the mid-wicket to end the 204-run fourth wicket stand.
Sarfaraz Khan looked in a positive mindset from the start, as he smashed the England bowlers all around the park. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he celebrated his maiden Test fifty in 48 balls. He soon got run out by a poor call by Jadeja, who on the very next ball reached his fourth Test century with a muted celebration. India finished the first day on 326/5, with Jadeja staying on 110*.
What’s to come
India will love to see Jadeja getting big, with support from the other end. Their first aim will be to end around 450 to 500, and make sure they have enough run to put pressure on England.
Statistical highlights from India vs England, 3rd Test, Day 1
Ben Stokes becomes the 16th England player to feature in 100 Tests.
Rohit now has the second most sixes (80) for India in Tests, only behind Virender Sehwag (90).
Since the start of 2019, Rohit has scored 2374 Test runs in 50 innings, which is the most runs by any India batter in that period.
Rohit becomes the second-highest six-hitter (212) in all three formats as captain, behind Eoin Morgan (233).
Rohit-Jadeja’s 204-run stand is India’s third-highest fourth-wicket stand against England in Tests.
Sarfaraz Khan records the joint-second fastest fifty (48 balls) on Test debut for India, behind Yuvraj of Patiala in 1934.
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