During his innings of 120 on the second day of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Rohit Sharma rarely played a false shot and the one real chance he gave to his opposition during his brilliant innings came in the 81st over of the Indian innings. I only came When Pat Cummins, with the new ball and renewed vigour, found space on the line and length, prompting the Indian skipper to push one away from his body. However, Steve Smith took a low catch in the second slip.
Cummins, who had figures of 11-2-50-0 before taking the new ball, had perhaps one of his worst days in terms of bowling yesterday, and Friday’s morning and post-lunch sessions were no better. Were. But, being the cricketer that he is, Cummins produced a ripper of a delivery to knock Sharma over the off pole – a dramatic end with a cartwheel and all, and Smith was the most relieved man on the pitch and Cummins finally Dropped a tired smile.
Highlights of Day 2 of India vs Australia 1st Test
However, till that moment, Rohit was the king, batting like a dream on a difficult pitch. And it needed a special delivery to end the special knock.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener is as much a test for Rohit as it is a test of his captaincy. Remember, since taking over the Test captaincy, Sharma has missed more games than he has played (3 out of 5). As a player, he had not played a Test match since March 2022, largely due to injuries and some workload management.
So, in short, Sharma had a lot to prove with the bat as well… rather needed a big score to assure himself at the top, especially India Ignoring Shubman Gill, who opened in the absence of both KL Rahul and Sharma on separate occasions for this Test.
#bgt2023 #INDvAUSSmith with his third drop of the day – and a summary of Australia’s struggle on day two – Jadeja, Axar put the visitors to the sword after Rohit’s brilliant 120 – Stumps are drawn and India lead by 144
And he proved, and he convinced.
— Vineeth Ramakrishnan (@Mid_Carder) February 10, 2023
Sharma was out of the blocks early after a poor spell from Cummins on Thursday evening, forcing him to reset on the second day. Sharma was up to the task and batted like a man on a mission. Even as debutant Todd Murphy looked more and more dangerous, Sharma was calculated in his approach. Barring a few near misses with Ravichandran Ashwin and another with Virat Kohli, Sharma never looked in a hurry.
Cummins worked the back of the length zone to a great extent, but Rohit got rid of the good guys. Nathan Lyon and Murphy stuck to a fine line and the occasional delivery to spew some venom. Sharma curbed his attacking instincts and chatted with the two tweakers without giving much away.
When Cummins tried a short-pitched delivery with two men, Rohit turned around and pulled one over deep square leg to take his second six of the innings – his first boundary shot of the day, seven overs away.
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Sharma was quick to use his feet and counter Lyon’s crazy delivery, giving him no time to wander off the pitch. He was equally confident that he would take his next foot forward and slam Murphy’s quicker ones, even though there was enough variation that others could be troubled. And it did.
Nightwatchman Ashwin – even though he is a far more accomplished batsman in Tests – was undone by the returnee from round the wicket. A reward for Murphy’s persistence and tight lines. The debutant though was lucky with his next two dismissals, with a half-effort effort from Pujara going straight to short fine off a legside delivery and Kohli finishing off wicket-keeper Alex Carey by feathering another down the leg.
Lyon also troubled Rohit with a few close calls for LBW and once took a return catch while pushing a length ball early; But these moments came few and far between. He often had a roll of the wrist while swinging the ball away from fielders and finding gaps. When Murphy and Lyon overpitched or strayed, Rohit made sure they got maximum returns with some crisp drives.
During the pre-match practice session, Rohit tried several sweeps and reverse sweeps, but he hardly got to execute them today. Playing in a ‘V’ with soft wrists and a strong bottom hand, he brought up his 9th Test century. His scoring shot to reach the hundred – using his legs to reach the pitch of the delivery without hesitation, was a microcosm of his entire innings. Sluggish, yet calculated.
With the landmark, he became only the fourth player to score centuries in all three formats as captain.
Ever since Rohit Sharma started opening in Tests (since 2019), he has been India’s best Test player – highest runs (1672) and best average (57.65 – min. 5 match cut off). Overall, he has the second best average among opening batsmen, behind only Australia’s Usman Khawaja (64.87 – min 1000 runs).
Rohit has done his job with the bat, and India have taken a lead of 144 thanks to Rohit’s fine innings and equally brilliant counter-attacking knocks from Ravindra Jadeja (66*) and Axar Patel (52*), skipper Rohit Will take a breath easy.
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