Rohit Sharma kicked off the Border-Gavaskar series in style with a magnificent hundred in the opening Test match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur. This was his 9th Test century and also his first as captain in the five-day format of cricket.
With this accomplishment, he has now made history as the first Indian skipper to score a hundred in all three formats of the game and joined the ranks of an elite group of just four players globally, including Babar Azam, Tillakaratne Dilshan, and Faf du Plessis.
An entertaining moment was captured by the stump microphone during Rohit’s remarkable innings. He shared his thoughts on Steve Smith with his batting partner, Ravindra Jadeja. Upon receiving the ball in the outfield, Smith’s throwing abilities made Rohit cautious, leading him to quickly halt Jadeja from taking a second run, with the words, “Yeh pagal hai thoda, sach me” (He’s a bit crazy, seriously). This lighthearted moment quickly went viral on social media.
This moment occurred in the 77th over of the Australian innings, when Marnus Labuschagne was delivering the ball. Rohit was on 115 runs at the crease, and Jadeja had just come in as a new batter with 7 runs to his name.
Earlier in the day, Rohit Sharma narrowly avoided a run-out opportunity after a miscommunication with his former captain, Virat Kohli. The Indian captain made a frantic dive to secure his safe return to the crease.
Nevertheless, he was eventually dismissed by the Australian skipper, Pat Cummins, shortly after the new ball was taken. Rohit contributed 120 runs in 212 deliveries to the match. At the end of the day, India had scored 321-7, leading by 144 runs. Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel remain undismissed at the crease, both having scored half-centuries and putting on an impressive 81-run partnership.
