Rajkot: Skipper Rohit Sharma (141) roared back to form while allrounder Ravindra Jadeja (110 batting) underlined his value to the team as the duo helped India get out of jail on the opening day of the third Test against England here on Thursday.
Debutant Sarfaraz Khan (62 off 66 balls, 9×4, 1×6) lit up the final session with sparkling strokeplay, attacking the spinners with elan.
The Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium, rechristened as Niran Shah Stadium a day earlier, saw an epic recovery after the home team had lost three wickets in the first hour and was tottering at 33/3.
India, fielding one of the most inexperienced batting line-ups in several years with Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer missing, were rocked early by Mark Wood. The express pacer had Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) caught by Joe Root at slip and Shubman Gill caught behind by Ben Foakes before scoring.
And when one-Test old Rajat Patidar tamely offered a simple chance to Ben Duckett at cover off left-arm spinner Tom Hartley’s first over, India were staring at disaster.
Rohit looked tentative early in his innings, and even survived a chance at slip off Hartley.
But the captain, desperate to make a major contribution after a number of low scores, showed determination and application to ride the rough start.
Once Rohit regained his fluency in the second hour, he started playing typically delightful strokes. Jadeja was solid as well, denying the visitors a stronger hold on the match.
Rohit scored his 11th Test century and Jadeja brought up his fourth hundred as the duo added 204 runs for the fourth wicket.
The 26-year-old Sarfaraz, who has been pushing for Test call-up following huge runs in domestic cricket season after season, grabbed his chance with both hands. He raced to a half-century in his maiden Test match, and looked good to be unbeaten at the end of day’s play only to have his dazzling knock cut short tragically.
Jadeja, who was in his nervous nineties, called Sarfaraz for a quick single but then said ‘no’. By the time Wood threw down the stumps at non-striker’s end, Sarfaraz couldn’t return to his crease after responding to Jadeja’s call.
Brief Scores
India 326/5 in 86 overs (Rohit Sharma 131, Ravindra Jadeja 110 batting, Sarfaraz Khan 62; Mark Wood 3/69).
Match to continue on Day 2.
