India captain Rohit Sharma produced one of his best Test centuries on Thursday in Rajkot against England in the third Test of the series.
In the absence of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Axar Patel, and with an inexperienced lower middle-order of two-Test-old Rajat Patidar, and debutants Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel, it was imperative for India that Rohit Sharma step up with the bat after a quiet start to his series.
It became an even more challenging and high-pressure task and a necessity for India that Rohit produce a big innings after the hosts stumbled to 33/3 inside 10 overs after electing to bat first. India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Rajat Patidar with only 33 runs on the board, but were bailed out by a big partnership between Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja.
First, the pair took India unscathed any further till Lunch and held the fort for the entire second session, leading to the first wicketless session of this series. Jadeja brought up his fifty before Tea, while Rohit raised his century after Tea.
This is the 11th Test century for Rohit Sharma, and one of his best.
Top test innings from Rohit Sharma: Harsha Bhogle
The India captain got huge praise from all fans and commentators. Veteran commentator Harsh Bhogle took to Twitter to lavish praise on the Indian opener. In his tweet, Bhogle applauded the “skill and maturity” of Rohit to pull India out of early trouble while taking on the responsibility of batting for a big knock considering the inexperienced batters after him.
Bhogle tweeted: “A hundred of skill and maturity from the captain. Top test innings to pull a very inexperienced batting side out of a lot of trouble. #RohitSharma”
A hundred of skill and maturity from the captain. Top test innings to pull a very inexperienced batting side out of a lot of trouble. #RohitSharma
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 15, 2024
Most Test hundreds as an opener for India vs England
4 – Sunil Gavaskar
3 – Vijay Merchant
3 – Murali Vijay
3 – KL Rahul
3 – Rohit Sharma
At the time of writing, Rohit and Jadeja’s partnership is now worth 163* and India’s score is close to 200.
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