Skipper Rohit Sharma has been India's lone warrior in the first Test match against Australia of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Nagpur. While the next best has been a knock of 23, from Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit has been a standout batman for India, scoring his ninth Test hundred, off 171 deliveries on the second day of the match and with that scripted a history for India.
Rohit Sharma had started off on a fluent note after India bundled out Australia for just 177 on Day 1. His knock of 56 at the close of the opening day, reduced India's deficit to 100. He continued his impetus on the second day as well but dismissals at the other end at regular intervals, urged him to check on his aggression. Rohit eventually got to the three-figure mark on his 171st delivery, with a shot over mid-off against Todd Murphy.
This was Rohit’s ninth Test hundred and eighth at home and first as a captain since he took over the responsibility last year. With that, he joined Babar Azam, Faf du Plessis and Tillakaratne Dilshan to become the fourth batter to score centuries across formats as a captain.
Rohit Sharma has smashed six tons across formats as captain of the Indian side. Three of them have been in ODIs while two in T20Is, where he remains the only ever Indian to reach this milestone. This was also his 38th century across formats as an opener, which remains the second-best tally after Sachin Tendulkar's 45.
Talking about the match, Murphy has been Australia's best bowler, having scalped four of the five wickets while Nathan Lyon has picked one. Rohit Sharma’s outstanding knock has however stood as the difference between the two sides as century has helped India take a lead on Day 2.
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