Australia’s tour of India has not quite started in a manner their captain Pat Cummins would have liked. The ongoing first Test in Nagpur did start on a good note for them as the fast-bowler won a good toss and decided to bat first.
But since then, things have only gotten worse for Pat Cummins and his team. Australia just could not capitalise on the toss as they were bundled up for a paltry 177. Marnus Labuschagne (49) was the only Australia batsman to cross the 40-run mark.
As many as seven players could not even touch the double-digit mark during the poor batting display. For India, Ravindra Jadeja was the star of the show, taking 5 wickets on his comeback.
India then put up a good show with the bat too. Led by skipper Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten fifty, they finished day one on 77 for 1. On the ongoing second day, Rohit went on to smash a stunning century to help India cross the 200-run mark.
Jadeja praises Rohit Sharma:
With Rohit Sharma putting India in a commanding position with the bat, former India batsman Ajay Jadeja has said that the India skipper has managed to put the seeds of fear in Pat Cummins’ head.
Rohit attacked Pat Cummins right from the word go and did not let the Australia skipper settle down. In the first over of India’s innings, he had smashed the pacer for three fours to set the tone. Talking about the dual between the two, Jadeja said:
“Absolutely. He had sown the seeds of fear in Cummins yesterday and now he has come to take the fruits. He almost took Cummins out of the game yesterday. And today, with that six, he showed dominance.
Speaking further, Jadeja was all praise for the way Rohit batted on a pitch where most of the batsmen struggled to get even their timing right.
“Rohit Sharma is always a cool customer. He just goes on his path like an elephant that doesn’t look here and there despite the noise around it. The pitch is up and down and we saw Virat Kohli have a reaction to the nature of the pitch. We don’t see that from Rohit at all. What we saw today from him was just brilliant,” said Jadeja while speaking on Cricbuzz.
“Yesterday in the evening, he was playing at a different pace. When he came in today, he went at a slow rate which means that Australia bowled well, but Rohit Sharma is in a zone which is important at this time.”
“There is no fuss from him at the moment. He is calm and it feels like there is nothing on the pitch. Yeah, the wicket is becoming a slight docile. But seeing Rohit Sharma it feels like there is nothing on the pitch to be worried about. When he is there, his calmness does reflect through. He didn’t score at a high rate today, maybe because Australia is doing well today with the ball,” said Jadeja.
Meanwhile, Cummins was the one who managed to end Rohit’s brilliant innings. In the third session on day two, the Australia pace spearhead castled the India skipper with a beauty. Rohit departed after scoring 120. At the time of compiling this report, India were on 249 for 7, leading Australia by 72 runs.