NAGPUR: Since becoming Test captain in February 2022, Rohit Sharma has been forced to miss three of the five matches India played in the period. Returning to lead the country in the longest format after March 2022, the opening Test couldn't have been sterner. They were facing the world No. 1 in their bid to retain the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Add to it, a lot depended on the outcome of the series if India wished to qualify for the World Test Championship final, a match they had lost to New Zealand in the previous cycle. All eyes were on the 35-year-old batter from Mumbai as the series began at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur on Thursday. He might have lost the toss, considered crucial given the nature of the surface rolled out for the match, but his bowlers negated that by bundling out Pat Cummins-led side for 177.
Once again, he was in the spotlight as a good beginning would give his team a healthy lead as well as the cushion of not chasing an uncomfortable target in the fourth innings on a deteriorating track. As was expected of him, he didn't disappoint. The hosts ended the first day at 77/1 with Rohit playing a counter-attacking innings to remain unbeaten on 56 off 69.
The first session of the Day 2, however, didn't go well with India losing two wickets including that of Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara. The situation aggravated further as Virat Kohli got out the very first ball after the break leaving the team slightly vulnerable at 151/4. Rohit was still there but the pressure was back on him and the team. Debutant Suryakumar Yadav's dismissal didn't help him either. The onus was on the captain to pull the team out of the trouble and he did exactly that but in a style not many associate him with. After scoring at a brisk pace on the first day, he slowed down a lot on Friday with wickets falling around him. He added only 29 in the first session before accumulating another 35 before being dismissed.
Luckily, in Ravindra Jadeja, he found an able ally to take the team beyond 200-run mark. In the end, he batted for nearly six hours facing 212 balls to notch up his first Test century in almost one-and-a-half-years. The innings, which included 15 fours and two sixes, also made him the first Indian captain to score a century in all international formats of the game. Batting coach Vikram Rathour was all praise for Rohit when he was enquired about Rohit's exploits with the willow on a slow wicket. "It was a special innings by Rohit and it is a great feeling (to see him score runs). He showed good temperament and it was a very important innings as the surface wasn't easy to bat on," he said.
"He has got runs on seaming tracks in England. But if we talk about this particular innings, he was made to work hard for his runs. Normally, with Rohit when he scores his first few runs, he then pushes the score. But here he had to work hard," added the former India player. Even as Australia eventually got rid of Rohit once the second new ball was taken, by then India had taken a lead of more than 50 runs.
That only swelled as Jadeja (66) along with Axar Patel (52) stitched together an unbroken 81-run partnership for the eighth wicket to give their team a considerable lead of 144 runs. With the duo at the crease, India can hope to take their lead beyond 200 in the first session when the play commences on Saturday morning. It will only add to the woes of the visitors as if that happens, they will be forced to play the chasing game on the strip where batting is only going to get difficult as the game progresses.