Rohit Sharma didn’t even open his helmet, just held the bat high. Standing at one end, the Indian captain saw the team’s 33 runs missing 3 wickets. He pulled the team from there, but his celebration after the century was telling—he knew there was work left to do. Ravindra Jadeja also did not open the helmet, his famous sword-swirling celebration was also ‘done for the sake of doing’. His reason, however, is different, Sarfaraz Khan, who played a great innings of 62 runs from 66 balls in an emotional debut, got run out due to a misunderstanding with him on the previous ball . Jadeja’s celebration left an impression on that. Bringing a smile as bright as a sunny day between the two, Sarfraz, who had been waiting for a ‘long’ debut, picked up the bat, after half a century. Although he did not get the opportunity to go to three figures.
No matter how ‘white’ the Indian milestone celebrations in Rajkot are, the first day belongs to them. Rohit and Jadeja’s century along with Sarfaraz’s quick half-century saw the hosts lose 5 wickets on the first day and collect 326 runs. Rohit returned with 131 runs, Jadeja unbeaten on 110 runs. His companion is night watchman Kuldeep Yadav.
On a wicket where batting is supposed to be helpful, after Mark Wood’s cannon, Tom Hartley won the toss in the first over and India quickly lost 3 wickets and came under pressure. But then Rohit and Jadeja explained the value of their wickets to England. The ever-active Ben Stokes made many changes in bowling and fielding but could not break the pair quickly. Promoted to five to retain the right-handed combination, Jadeja repaid the trust handsomely.
Sarfraz Khan after half a centuryAFP
Although the wicket is very helpful for batting, there was uneven bounce in the beginning. Yasswi Jaiswal, who scored a double century in the previous Test, was caught at slip by Wood’s extra bounce ball, Shubman Gill was caught by Ben Folks to hold the line. Rajat Patidar also took a catch at cover while playing a little jump from outside the off stump. England got 3 wickets in the first hour. They could have got the wicket of Rohit, but Joe Root lost the chance at slip.
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