Indian captain Rohit Sharma scored his 11th Test ton and eighth as an opener in Test cricket on Day 1 of the Rajkot Test. India finished on 326/5 with Rohit and Ravindra Jadeja smashing centuries.
Rohit, who scored his 11th Test ton, added a 204-run stand with Jadeja, who was unbeaten on 110 at stumps. Rohit scored 131 off 196 deliveries and his innings was decorated with 14 fours and three sixes.
Rohit scored his last Test in February 2023 and was under a lot of pressure coming into this innings. His last scores in Test cricket were 24, 39, 14 and 13 before his century, which broke his streak of poor scores. The Indian captain started but couldn’t convert those stats. Having finally done it in Rajkot, he would be relieved.
Rohit’s innings was crucial as India were shaken early and the batting line-up was missing players like Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, who are among the senior batsmen alongside Rohit. He was wonderfully supported by Jadeja, who returned to the Test team after his hamstring injury. He scored a century on his return and surpassed 3000 Tests in the process.
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Mohammad Kaif praises Rohit Sharma
Meanwhile, Mohammad Kaif, the former Indian cricketer, said that Rohit Sharma gave a befitting reply to his critics after his 11th Test. India were 33/3 when Rohit joined Jadeja in that important partnership.
“Muh tod jawab dena, Rohit ne muh tod jawab dia hai, people who criticized him should keep silent. He has always silenced critics of him with the bat of his. Every time someone doubted his caliber, he scored a century like that. He would suggest that people not jump to conclusions too soon. He is a good cricketer,” Kaif was quoted as saying by IANS.
The former Indian cricketer further supported the BCCI’s decision to make it mandatory for players to play in the Ranji Trophy. The BCCI earlier this week directed Indian players playing in the IPL to play in the Ranji Trophy to be considered for the IPL.
“I guess this move came a little late. I should have arrived early. Cricketers should respect their statuses and play against Ranji. It shouldn’t be like ‘I want to play IPL but not Ranji’. They should respect the state that gave them so much exposure in their early years,” Kaif told reporters.
The Indian captain surpassed MS Dhoni’s tally of 78 sixes in Test cricket. Rohit hit three sixes in his innings, taking his tally to 80. Virender Sehwag leads the list of most sixes in Indian Test cricket with 90.
Rohit Sharma also surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 4508 runs in all formats as captain. The list is led by Virat Kohli with 12883 runs followed by MS Dhoni with 11207 runs. Mohammad Azharuddin (8095) sits next, followed by Sourav Ganguly (7665).
India made four changes to their playing XI for the third Test in Rajkot. Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel made their international debuts. Ravindra Jadeja replaced Axar Patel while Mohd Siraj replaced Mukesh Kumar in the XI. Sarfaraz scored 62 off 66 deliveries on his Test debut.
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