Indian skipper Rohit Sharma rescued India from an early collapse in the first session with his 11th Test ton. Rohit completed his century with a couple of runs off Rehan Ahmed in the 53rd over of the third Test in Rajkot. He took 157 deliveries to reach the three figures.
This was Rohit’s first Test century as captain against England. He became the second Indian captain after Sunil Gavaskar who scored a Test century against England as an opener. Gavaskar scored 172 as captain against England in 1981 in Bengaluru.
En route to his 11th Test ton, Rohit also surpassed former Indian skipper MS Dhoni on the list of most sixes. The 36-year-old is now India's second-highest six-hitter in the format. Dhoni had 78 sixes from 90 Tests. Rohit went past Dhoni with the third six of his innings in his 57th Test. Rohit hit Joe Root for a six to move up the list.
In addition, Rohit has the joint-most hundreds as an Indian opener against England. Gavaskar is on top with four Test tons. Vijay Merchant, Murali Vijay, and KL Rahul are three other openers on the list.
He departed after scoring 131 runs from 196 balls. He fell into Mark Wood's leg side trap and handed an easy catch to Ben Stokes. His 131-run knock featured 14 fours and three sixes. He shared a 204-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja.
Bounce troubles Indian batters in first session
Earlier, Rohit won the toss and opted to bat first. He made four changes to the side. Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel got their debut caps. They replaced Shreyas Iyer and Srikar Bharat who were part of the win in the Vizag Test. Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar made way for Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj.
The pitch looked flat but it had plenty for bowlers early on in the first session. Mark Wood's pace troubled Yashasvi Jaiswal. He was dismissed in the fourth over as extra bounce led to an outside edge that went to Joe Root. In his next over, he dismissed Shubman Gill for a nine-ball duck. Gill edged one to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes. Rajat Patidar failed to make the opportunity count as extra bounce got the better of him. Tom Hartley's delivery surprised Patidar and Duckett took an easy catch at cover.
India were reduced to 33/3 in the ninth over. Jadeja joined him in the middle and stabilisied the innings.
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