Sanjay Manjrekar, a former cricket player for India, has praised India skipper Rohit Sharma’s century-plus performance on the first day of the Rajkot Test match. At the Niranjan Shah Stadium on Thursday, February 15, Sharma struck 131 runs off 196 balls while batting, saving the Indian side from a top-order collapse.
During his innings, Sharma smashed three sixes and fourteen boundaries, surpassing MS Dhoni in the record for the most sixes scored by an Indian hitter in a Test match. After observing Rohit Sharma’s performance, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar observed that Rohit’s mental toughness in constructing a big innings was commendable. Manjrekar noted that Rohit controlled his innately aggressive style of play, content to wait out the England pacers and wear them out during their intense morning session pressure.
There was a moment when, in the first ten overs of the match, India was 33/3, which worried Indian supporters.
“Rohit Sharma was aware that he needed to get a big run in this innings, not just 20 or 30. After Day 1, Sanjay Manjrekar commented on ESPNcricinfo that “the onus was on him to stay there became greater when India lost three wickets.”
“Joe Root dropped Rohit, who was fortunate to have taken a few opportunities (in the slips). However, he then returned to the more conventional approach of mental toughness, which was truly commendable. Ben Stokes had the field all to himself, but Rohit refrained from doing what came most naturally to him. He continued, “He and Jadeja both knew what was necessary in this circumstance.
With more than 200 runs scored between them, Sharma and Jadeja gave India a commanding lead. In the last session of the day, Rohit was removed by bowler Mark Wood after mistiming a pull ball into the clutches of the leg-side fielder positioned at mid-wicket.
Sarfaraz Khan, making his debut, took matters into his own hands when Sharma left and scored a forceful 62 off just 66 balls. Sarfaraz, Jadeja (110*), and Rohit helped India end the day at 326/5 in 86 overs.
