Rohit Sharma brought up his half-century in just 66 balls on a Nagpur pitch where all Australian batsmen struggled to score.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma is one of the very few players who can overlook the opposition, the pitch, and the conditions when in full flow. He was unstoppable on Day 1 of the first Test match between India and Australia, which marked the start of this edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
In the final session on Thursday, the Indian batsmen appeared to be batting on a different surface. Pat Cummins was quite generous in dishing out leg stump half-volleys on multiple occasions, but Rohit looked in complete control against pretty much all of the other Australian bowlers.
Rohit did not waste any scoring chances against off-spinners Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy. On a Nagpur pitch where all of Australia's batsmen toiled and those who seemed to be in command, like as Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, failed to score freely, Rohit raced to his fifty in only 66 balls.
Former Australia opener Mark Waugh claimed Rohit Sharma is the 'key' to India's batting, praising the Indian skipper for his strokeplay and ability to take the match away from the opponent.
"Rohit Sharma is the key to the Indian batting. He is a very good player of spin. He has scored so quickly, that's the thing," Waugh said on Star Sports.
Waugh, curiously, contrasted Rohit and Virat Kohli's playing styles in the longest format, claiming that the former India skipper like to 'dig in' and bat long.
"You look at the rest of Indian players, I think Kohli sort of digs in and takes his time but Sharma is one guy who can take the game away from Australia quite quickly. He looked like a different player who was batting on a different surface. It was a classy innings," he added.
The Indian bowlers, headed by the resurrected Ravindra Jadeja, dominated the day. After opting to bat first, Australia was bowled out for 177 by India, with the help from off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who also took three wickets
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