- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
The hosts were reeling at 33 for 3 when Sharma added 203 runs with Ravindra Jadeja to steer the team out of trouble. He eclipsed a number of records in the process.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA captain Rohit Sharma on Thursday (15) hit a hundred in the third Test against England at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot to bail his team out of initial trouble. The 36-year-old opening batter slammed 131 off 196 balls after the hosts were reduced to 33 for 3 by a spirited England bowling attack.
In fact, at 36 years 291 days, Sharma became the oldest India captain to hit an international hundred, eclipsing the late Vijay Hazare who had hit one at the age of 36 years and 278 days against England in 1951.
Sharma added 204 runs with Ravindra Jadeja, who was playing in his hometown, with the latter also hitting a century. The duo came together in the ninth over after India faced a mini slump and steered their team to 93 for 3 at lunch. Sharma completed his first half century of the series by that time.
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However, the India captain, who earlier won the toss and elected to bat, has had his luck. While he was dropped by Joe Root in the first slip, he also survived a leg-before decision off the bowling of James Anderson. The batter successfully reviewed the decision given against him by on-field umpire Joel Wilson as the ball had hit his bat’s inside edge.
The duo continued with their partnership after lunch and added 92 runs in the second session. It was also the first century-run stand for India in the series which is locked 1-1 at the moment.
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Sharma eventually completed his century in the third session — the third as the captain — off 157 deliveries with the help of 11 fours and two sixes. He also completed 1,000 runs in the long format against England during his knock. He has taken 23 innings to reach the milestone — with three hundreds and four fifties. He was claimed by Mark Wood, who made a return to the England side in the match, by getting caught by his England counterpart Ben Stokes at mid wicket.
The India captain also extended his run as the leading century scorer among all openers in the World Test Championship across three cycles since it started in 2019. He has so far made eight tons and as many fifties in 50 innings in the tournament.
The ton also saw Sharma registering his 42nd international ton as an opener, equalling former West Indies opener Chris Gayle. Only Australia’s David Warner (49) and former India captain Sachin Tendulkar (45) have scored more tons as international openers.
India saw two debutantes in the game in batter Sarfaraz Khan and wicket-keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel.
