India captain Rohit Sharma scored his 18th Test half-century against England in the fifth and final match of their Test series at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala.
With this knock, Rohit also went past the 1000-run mark as India’s Test captain. He became just the 10th Indian skipper to achieve this feat. His knock helped India end Day 1 at 135 for 1, trailing England by 83 runs.
IND vs ENG, 5th Test: Scorecard
He joined the likes of Virat Kohli, (5,864 runs), MS Dhoni (3,454 runs), Sunil Gavaskar (3,449 runs), Mohammed Azharuddin (2,856 runs), Sourav Ganguly (2,561 runs), MAK Pataudi (2,424 runs), Sachin Tendulkar (2,054 runs), Rahul Dravid (1,736 runs) and Kapil Dev (1,364 runs).
Rohit and fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed half-centuries on Day 1 to help them post 135 for 1 at stumps. The two opener formed a 104-run stand before Jaiswal was dismissed by Shoaib Bashir after scoring 57 runs off 58 deliveries, hitting five boundaries and three sixes.
India ended the day with Rohit remaining unbeaten at 52 runs, having played 83 deliveries, alongside Shubman Gill, who chipped in with a free-flowing 39-ball 26.
Earlier in the day, India bowled out England for 218 runs on Day 1 in their first innings. Despite getting off to a flying start, England succumbed to yet another collapse in the second and third session to be bowled out on Day 1.
Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the Indian bowlers, claiming his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests. Kuldeep picked up five wickets while giving away 72 runs in 15 overs on Day 1. He ran through England’s top and middle order, dismissing Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow and skipper Ben Stokes.
He was ably backed by milestone-man Ravichandran Ashwin, who claimed four wickets on his 100th Test match. Ashwin cleaned up England’s tail, getting rid of Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood and James Anderson.
Zak Crawley was the best batter for the visitors, scoring 79 runs off 108 balls, smashing 11 boundaries and a solitary six. Jonny Bairstow, who also stepped out to play his 100th Test match, scored a quick-fire 29 to go past the 6000-run mark in Tests, becoming just the 17th Englishman to achieve the feat.
India will be aiming to end their five-match Test series against England on a high having already clinched the series 3-1.
