Rohit Sharma hits 11th Test hundred to help India recover from early blows vs England on Day 1 of Rajkot Test

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Rohit Sharma on Thursday slammed his 11th Test hundred to help India recover from three for 33 on Day 1 of the first Test against England at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.

The India captain ended his eight-innings drought for a fifty-plus score right on time after England pacer Mark Wood and left-arm spinner Tom Hartley combined together to strike in the first nine overs of the match.

Having registered scores of just 24, 29, 14 and 13 in the first four innings of the series, the 36-year-old was already under pressure. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a double hundred in the first match, departed for a duck. Shubman Gill, who scored a hundred in the previous match got out for a duck, while Rajat Patidar could chip in with five runs only.

With no Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in the squad, and two debutants in Sarfaraz Ahmed and Dhruv Jurel in the squad, the onus was on Rohit Sharma. The star opener stepped up to the occasion and stitched a hundred-run partnership with local boy Ravindra Jadeja, before slamming his first Test hundred since July 2023 to bring the Indian innings on track.

He smashed 11 fours and two sixes en route to the three-figure mark, and completed his hundred off 157 balls after running two doubles on the first three balls from spinner Rehan Ahmed after the tea break. The experienced campaigner did not take off his helmet but thanked the almighty, and acknowledged the applause from fans and the Indian dressing room, before again getting back to focussing and playing hard cricket.

Rohit Sharma found feet in Test cricket late his career, but now has joint-second most Test hundreds as opener against England. Sunil Gavaskar hit four hundreds while opening for India against England. Vijay Merchant, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma are tied at second with three hundreds each.

Rohit woud be looking at the bigger job and hand and aim for a double because of the the lack of experience in the batting unit of the ongoig Test. Notably, India have missed the opportunity to post some extra runs on the board despite being in good positions in the series.