Run riot in Rajkot as Rohit, Jadeja and young Sarfaraz steal the show

Rajkot: It turned out to be a virtual batting feast from the Indians against England on Day 1 of the third Test in Rajkot on Thursday. Leading from the front, and, with authority, was skipper Rohit Sharma as he joined hands with Ravindra Jadeja to guide the team out of choppy waters.

At 33/3, the hosts looked in dire straits as Mark Wood had done the damage with early wickets. With Yashasvi Jaiswal, double centurion in Vizag and Shubman Gill, centurion at the same venue failing, Hitman, as Rohit is called, had to get his act together. For a man who made his debut in November 2013 in Kolkata and has been a selfless cricketer in many ways, his own batting and stitching the side again in tandem with Jadeja was a class act.

The pressure was high, just that this English attack, by the end of the day, was made to look even more anaemic than a County bowling attack.

The Englishmen may have thought Wood and James Anderson would be potent against Rohit and Jadeja. No, it turned out to be the other way as the Indian star duo batted with great application and eschewed the risk shots.

Rohit has been known to score big with an audacious approach in the white ball format. On Thursday, he needed to get his eye in and dig his heels. That worked out well as the Mumbaikar turned on a classy act against spinners from England who looked bereft of ideas. Joe Root tried the leg side attack, and bowled from round the wicket. It failed.

At the end of the day, Wood had finished with a three-wicket haul but the way spinners Tom Hartley, Joe Root and Rehan Ahmed bowled was prosaic. Rohit had to play a typical Test knock where he had to cut down risks. For someone blessed with an abundance of skills in batting, the way he handled the spinners was a delight to watch

The use of bat and pad plus footwork caught the eye, as he crafted an innings of 131, which was studded with gems – 14 fours and three sixes. To open up after initial pressure reflected his intent and intensity, even as Jadeja played perfect foil after being promoted in the order.

Back to Rohit, he has been going through a horrible, dry run. Perhaps, the last big Test knock came in Nagpur last year, against the Aussies.

Since then, Rohit has been in trouble, though it was just a matter of time he let his bat flow freely.

The kind of experience which Rohit has is immense and as a batter with great timing,

Rohit was a treat to watch. Surely, given the chances which Jadeja usually takes with shot production, on this day, the Saurashtra hero was fairly restrained. By the end of the day, as shadows lengthened, Ravindra Jadeja the star left-hander had scored 100 off 212 balls. This effort defined patience and purpose, even though for a long spell in between debutant Sarfaraz Khan

from Mumbai stole the show with a batting display which was audacious.

Watched emotionally by his father Naushad Khan, his guide, coach and guru, Sarfaraz was effervescent in his batting. The guy has scored plenty of runs in domestic cricket and the big break in Tests came so fast.

Once he was presented his Test cap by Anil Kumble in the morning, the father was teary-eyed. He had lived to see this day for years.

The son did not disappoint as he scored 62 off 66 balls, which was fast and furious. Yes, a bit like the Bazball which the Englishmen rant and rave about. To be sure, the patience which Jadeja showed was monumental and the all-rounder has flourished under pressure.

The grammar of his batting was a treat to watch as he handled the cocktail of pace and spin adroitly. Surely, two guys at 36 and 35 – Rohit and Ravindra Jadeja – showed that age is no factor when it comes to performance.

The end of the day score was 326 for 5. Ideally, India should add as many more runs as possible.

There is not too much in the wicket, though given the potency of the Indian spinners, R.Ashwin, Jadeja plus Kuldeep Yadav, the Englishmen will have to bat with brilliance.

In a long time, for three Indian batters to score good runs and seize the initiative was the ideal advertisement for Test cricket. Did someone say Test cricket is boring?