India captain Rohit Sharma scored a half-century in his first Test match against Australia at home. Rohit completed his 15th half-century in Test cricket at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 9, 2023 16:27 IST
Rohit Sharma scores half-century in Nagpur (AP)
By India Today Web Desk: India captain Rohit Sharma scored a half-century in his first Test match against Australia at home. Rohit completed his 15th half-century in Test cricket at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur.
The Indian skipper asserted his dominance early on in the innings, hitting Australia captain Pat Cummins for three boundaries in the very first over. He did not look back and kept scoring at a steady rate and completed a 50-run partnership with fellow opener KL Rahul in just 15.3 overs.
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The тАШHitmanтАЩ scored his 15th Test fifty, while getting to his 92nd half-century across all formats of the game. Rohit got to his half-century in 66 balls, hitting eight boundaries and one six. India is currently batting after dismissing Australia for 177 runs in the first innings in Nagpur.
After Cummins won the toss and decided to bat, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj rattled the Aussies with the quick wickets of David Warner and Usman Khawaja. Immediately after lunch, Ravindra Jadeja stunned Australia – theirs was a happy dressing-room at lunch, having seen off 32 overs from the Indian attack. But in the space of two balls, Jadeja turned things around for the hosts.
First, Jadeja lured Marnus Labuschagne out of his crease with a smartly bowled slower ball as KS Bharat completed the stumping and then he trapped Matt Renshaw LBW to leave Australia reeling. Steve Smith was always going to be the biggest thorn in the flesh for India, but Jadeja took care of that too, with the barest turn.
Ravichandran Ashwin then dented Australia further, getting rid of Alex Carey and Cummins. Debutant Todd Murphy was the next to fall at the hands of Jadeja, who dismissed the 22-year-old without letting him open his account, before dismissing Peter Handscomb to complete his five-wicket haul. Ashwin then dismissed pacer Scott Boland, bundling Australia out for 177 runs after 63.5 overs.
