Rohit Sharma dropped his bat down at the non-striker’s end during India’s nightmarish first hour as he seemingly couldn’t comprehend what was happening, and had to see the big screen replays to suss out if there was any devil on the pitch. Near the end of day’s play, he would fling his cap in frustration in the dressing room when Sarfaraz Khan, who revealed the true nature of the pitch with the jazziest knock of the day, was run out after a horrible mix-up with Ravindra Jadeja. In between these two moments with bat and the cap, he led India’s revival along with Jadeja and enjoyed Sarfaraz’s own version of Bazball as India recovered from 33 for 3 to end on 320 for 5.
In the end, it was the oldest plan in the book that got him. Telegraphed by the English that we have no other option but the short ball, Rohit fell, pulling softly to midwicket where Ben Stokes accepted it with great relish and relief.
Something snapped in him around the first hour mark as three of his top-order partners had combusted on arrival and he suddenly started to make the move to take the attack to England. He had been hit flush on the helmet grille by Mark Wood’s bouncer, hassled outside off by James Anderson, and also beaten by a turner from left-arm spinner Tom Hartley. Suddenly he had had enough in the 13th over as he cut Hartley to the point boundary before slog-sweeping from middle stump line over midwicket. A ball later, he tried to reprise the adventurous shot but got a leading edge to the left of slip where Joe Root clanged it.
Hundred for the #Hitman 💯
React to this #RohitSharma special with an emoji 👇#INDvENG #BazBowled #JioCinemaSports #TeamIndia #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries pic.twitter.com/HEqGgc9OvM
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 15, 2024
In the next over, Anderson dinked one in off a length to hit the pad and though the umpire Joe Wilson upheld it, the DRS showed there was an inside edge. The next two balls did contrasting things: one cut back to thud into the thigh, other shaped away past the outside edge. Rohit began to walk down the track to bunt the next to the off. In Anderson’s next over, he charged out and managed to scoop it just over mid-on. Finally, came a pressure-relieving four when he caressed Anderson ball to point fence. It was probably the jailbreak moment of that frenetic phase.
But it set the tone for the day. Fresh plans from England were first countered a bit iffily before he would turn authoritative. When Hartley pinged the pad with an armer and beat him on the outside edge, Rohit ran down the track to crash-land it over long-on. When Hartley squeezed out an outside edge, Rohit’s response was to ping the fine-leg and point boundary. When Root replaced Hartley, Rohit put him into the long-on stands.
He reached his hundred with a dab off Rehan Ahmed but the celebration wasn’t much. An impassioned look on his face as he raised his bat towards the dressing room, a chat with Jadeja before he gently acknowledged the crowd.
𝑹𝒂𝒋𝒌𝒐𝒕 𝒌𝒂 𝑹𝒂𝑱𝒂 👑
Jadeja slams his fourth Test 💯 to keep #TeamIndia on the front foot ⚡#INDvENG #BazBowled #JioCinemaSports #TeamIndia #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries pic.twitter.com/RSHDu8MMAD
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 15, 2024
In the interim, Rohit took the attack to Rehan Ahmad, collecting a six and fours that included a fabulous helicopter-ish twirl. England now threw the ball to Mark Wood in the 60th over with just one clear plan: bowl bouncers. But Wood could only get in two balls at Rohit in his first two overs of this spell: both bouncers with tennis-ball bounce lapped around the corner for singles. But in his next over, the 64th of the innings, Wood rapped the gloves with a high bouncer that Rohit was totally out of control but had tried to reach out to connect. In the third ball of that over, came the wicket delivery.
Rohit opened up his stance seemingly in preparation for the short ball but was rushed a touch and pulled it weakly to Stokes. He shut his eyes and threw his head back as he walked away and Jadeja would pat his back. The skipper had done the job for the day taking his team out of trouble.
Sarfaraz’s revelations
Rohit’s exit led to the most charming passage of play as Sarfaraz Khan, the man intimate with waiting after all these years in domestic cricket and he made that wait worthwhile with a most entertaining knock.
There were two phases to his batting, bookended by Wood’s bouncer barrage. He swayed, ducked from the bouncers. In between, when the spinners Hartley and Root operated from both ends, he went after them in a style that would have brought a smile to those who have watched him in first-class cricket.
𝙎𝙖𝙧𝙛𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙯 – Apna time a̶y̶e̶g̶a̶ aa gaya! 🗣️
He brings up a 48-balls half century on Test debut 💪🔥#INDvENG #BazBowled #JioCinemaSports #TeamIndia #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries pic.twitter.com/kyJYhVkGFv
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 15, 2024
When Hartley thought he had the upper hand with a ripper that turned past the prod, Sarfaraz would stretch out to deposit him to the sight screen. When Root thought he can trap him with the sweeps, he would slog-sweep him for boundaries. Even Anderson, on one occasion, felt the Sarfaraz touch when he lunged across for a widish ball to slice it ever-so-nonchalantly past gully.
Even as Jadeja shut shop, Sarfaraz kept going after the spinners until the pacers returned from both ends and he began to play for the stumps. And for Jadeja’s hundred. On 99, Jadeja pushed towards mid-on and as is his wont set off for a run before changing his mind. He often does that and this time it was Sarfaraz who bore the brunt as he had responded to Jadeja’s first call and was left stranded as Root threw down the stumps. He would turn and look at Jadeja who would hang his head down and stay frozen for a while.
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