By 
A brilliant comeback century by India skipper Rohit Sharma along with unbeaten fifties from all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel helped the hosts reach 321/7 at stumps on Day 2 of the first Test of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Nagpur, on Friday.
At stumps on Day 2, Jadeja is unbeaten on 66 off 170 balls with nine fours while Axar Patel is not out on 52 off 102, hitting eight fours as India lead by 144 runs in the first innings with three wickets in hand.
The Jadeja-Axar duo added an unbeaten 81-run partnership for the eighth wicket to help India recover from 240/7 in 83.1 overs and get into a comfortable position. This eighth-wicket partnership has certainly proved to be crucial for India and has put them in the driver’s seat in this match.
On Day 2, India resumed their innings from 77/1 in 24 overs with Rohit and Ravichandran Ashwin batting. Both Rohit and Ashwin started well and added a 42-run partnership for the second wicket before Ashwin was dismissed lbw on 23 off 62 by off-spinner Todd Murphy.
However, Rohit was quite impressive with his footwork against the spinners, using his feet to get to the pitch of the ball as well as moving deep inside the crease to play shots from the back foot. He played some excellent shots and scored boundaries at regular intervals.
Soon, India’s dependable Cheteshwar Pujara (7) got out caught off Murphy while trying to paddle sweep, hitting straight to the short-fine leg fielder. After his dismissal, Virat Kohli along with Rohit continued India’s innings and went to Lunch at a score of 151/3 in 52 overs.
Day two of the Nagpur Test belongs to India!#WTC23 | #INDvAUS | 📝: https://t.co/gwnjTz3Z1w pic.twitter.com/BngGvg4p2k
— ICC (@ICC) February 10, 2023
On the first ball after Lunch, Kohli was dismissed on 12 off 26, hitting two fours as he was caught behind in a very unlucky manner while trying to flick a ball down the leg side off Murphy.
After Kohli’s wicket, Rohit continued to play his strokes and completed his century in 171 balls. This was Rohit’s ninth century in Test cricket and his first since September 2021.
With this hundred, he also became the first Indian to score hundreds across Tests, ODIs & T20Is as captain.
In the 68th over off Nathan Lyon, debutant Suryakumar Yadav got bowled on 8 off 20 with one four as India looked in a spot of bother at 168/5 while still trailing Australia by 9 runs.
However, after his dismissal, Rohit and Jadeja took control of India’s innings and batted sensibly to go to tea at 226/5 in 80 overs.
Resuming their innings after the tea interval, Australia instantly took the new ball and skipper Pat Cummins started the proceedings to dismiss Rohit bowled off the fourth ball with a peach of a delivery.
Rohit had already got a life when Steven Smith put down his catch at the second slip. However, Cummins sent Rohit’s off-stump cartwheeling with one which went through the gate.
Rohit scored 120 off 212 balls, hitting fifteen fours and two sixes, helping India gain an advantage by taking the first-innings lead.
After Rohit’s wicket, India were down to 229/6 with a small lead of 52 runs with Jadeja batting.
Jadeja showed some excellent technique to defend the good balls and at the same time was quick to pounce on any loose balls bowled by the Australian bowlers.
Although, India lost the debutant wicket-keeper K.S Bharat (8) at a score of 240/7 in the 84th over, Jadeja got good support from his partner Axar at the other end.
Axar was more agressive of the two while Jadeja took a backseat and played a supporting role as India extended their lead.
Jadeja and Rohit had added a crucial 61-run partnership for the seventh wicket with both playing cautiously and surviving a couple of close calls each.
34-year-old Jadeja completed his half-century off 114 balls, hitting seven fours as he and Axar took India’s lead past 100 runs to slowly take Australia out of the game.
Off-spinner Todd Murphy was the pick of the bowlers for Australia, claiming a maiden five-wicket haul with his 5/82 on debut.
However, Australia will still be disappointed with their fielding efforts as they dropped many chances in the Indian innings, which could have brought them back into the match.
Brief scores: India 321/7 in 114 overs (Rohit Sharma 120, Ravindra Jadeja 66*, Axar Patel 52*; Todd Murphy 5-82) lead Australia 177/10 in 63.5 overs (Marnus Labuschagne 49, Steven Smith 37, Alex Carey 36, Peter Handscombe 31; Ravindra Jadeja 5/47, Ashwin 3/42) by 144 runs.
Comments