Rohit Sharma's eleventh Test hundred, which enjoyed an element of fortune, was instrumental in helping India go from 33/3 to 326/5 on Day 1 of the third Test against England at Rajkot on Thursday.
In terms of difficulty, the India captain's 131 (196b, 14x4, 3x6) was perhaps nowhere close to his 161 at Chennai that came on a turner in February 2021 or the sage-like 127 at The Oval against the moving Dukes ball in September 2021both knocks against England. But heading a batting line-up which has three frontline batters with a combined experience of seven Tests, it was just as vital. The team required some shepherding, and that is something which he and Ravindra Jadeja's unbeaten 110 did with style.
It was halfway through the day's play, with Rohit and Jadeja starting to unfurl the shots, that England's bowling was made to feel how so many visiting teams have felt in India. The Rohit-Jadeja stand became India's biggest partnership of the series when they went past 90 runs itself-the previous best was Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer adding 90 at Visakhapatnam.
If the series, before Thursday, gave a feeling of India playing catch-up cricket, it's because their secret sauce - big runs on the board was missing. The second session of play where England failed to uproot Rohit-Jadeja was the first in this series that India did not lose a wicket.
A cat-and-mouse game
Bu hikaye Hindustan Times dergisinin February 16, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Hindustan Times dergisinin February 16, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Palestinian PM Resigns Citing 'New Reality' Of War In Gaza
The United States and other powers have called for a reformed Palestinian Authority to take charge of all Palestinian territories after the end of war
Future Perfect: The Kids Are All Right
Gill and Jurel hold out promise by simplifying a challenging chase to help India seal series
Akshay feels 'blessed' to have worked with OG Ramayan cast
Director Akshay K Agarwal shot a music video, Humare Ram Aaye Hai, with the cast of the 1987 TV show, Ramayanactors Arun Govil, Dipika Chikhlia and Sunil Lahri - in Ayodhya recently.
Musk's firm gets nod for Sat Net; joins Jio, Bharti
Starlink, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has been allowed to offer satellite broadband services in India, two officials aware of the development said.
A temple, 169 years in the making
Through decades of design and reworks, hurdles in engineering and construction, HT pieces together how the grandeur of the Ram Temple was reclaimed
'Political interference' forces Vihari to quit Andhra cricket
After Andhra bowed out of the Ranji Trophy at the quarter-final stage with a four-run defeat to Madhya Pradesh in Indore on Monday, senior batter Hanuma Vihari launched a scathing attack on the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA), saying he will never turn up for the state again.
Shafali, Kapp lead Capitals to a 9-wicket win over Warriorz
A blazing fifty by Shafali Verma (64₹, 43 balls) helped Delhi Capitals make a mockery of a target of 120 and open their account in the second edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL).
Making 'unbelievable things believable', the Ayhika way
The India No. 7 was an inspired pick for the world team event and she repaid the faith, beating the Chinese world No.1
'Connected TVs to reach 45 mn by 2024-end in India'
With improvement in broadband penetration, Indian households are increasingly opting for connected or addressable TVs.
India chip strategy makes progress as $21 billion in proposals received
The Indian government, after years of watching from the sidelines of the chips race, now has to evaluate $21 billion of semiconductor proposals and divvy up taxpayer support between foreign chipmakers, local champions or some combination of the two.