Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma criticised for denying Ravindra Jadeja a chance to slam maiden Test double hundred

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Mohali, March 5: Riding over Ravindra Jadeja's imperious batting performance, Team India declared its first innings at 574/8 in the first Test against Sri Lanka at IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Saturday (March 5).

Jadeja - who scored an unbeaten 175 - stamped his authority as India's premier all-rounder with his career-best performance in the red-ball format.

Jadeja (175 no off 228 balls) scored his second Test hundred with 17 boundaries and three sixes, making a mockery of a below-par Sri Lanka attack. The visitors showed no resistance in front of Jadeja and his spin twin Ravichandran Ashwin as the duo batted comfortably for the most part of the morning session on day two.

The seventh-wicket partnership of 130 runs between Jadeja and Ashwin (61 off 82 balls) pushed the tourists out of the game. The 111 runs off 27 overs during the session came at a brisk pace and credit for the same goes to the spin twins.

Jadeja had forged a century stand with pacer Mohammed Shami as well at number nine and ensured his team posted a mammoth total on the board. However, captain Rohit Sharma's decision to declare the innings didn't go down well with many fans as they believed it denied Jadeja a chance to slam his maiden double century in Test cricket.

With Jadeja hardly facing any challenge from Sri Lankan bowlers and two wickets still in the pocket, fans felt captain and coach Rahul Dravid should have delayed the declaration for some time and provided the Saurashtra cricketer with an opportunity to achieve a major milestone.

Fans even raised the controversial episode of the 2004 Multan Test against Pakistan when Dravid - the then acting captain - declared India's innings, leaving Sachin Tendulkar stranded at 194*. Dravid faced massive criticism back then for that denied Tendulkar a certain double century. This was the same match in which Virender Sehwag became the first Indian to slam a triple hundred in red-ball cricket and got the title of 'Sultan of Multan'.

Here's what the fans had to say about Rohit's decision to declare the innings:

Then there were those who spoke in favour of the captain and coach: