Team India captain Rohit Sharma led from the front with the bat in a wobbly opening session of the third Test against England in Rajkot on Thursday, February 15. Part of his resistance included overcoming a challenging opening stint against new ball bowlers James Anderson and Mark Wood, the latter of whom tested him with a variety of short-pitched bowling.
Rohit Sharma emerged largely unharmed from the onslaught in terms of wicket protection, but he did get a punch to the helmet from one of Wood’s signature fast bouncers.
The England right-arm quick, delivering his eighth over in a row, started with a short ball but followed up with a more powerful delivery.
Rohit Sharma attempted to manage the delivery by rising to the bounce and putting it down to the third man zone. However, the ball kicked off the surface, collecting more bounce than normal, and struck the skipper directly on the helmet grille.
Mark Wood inquired about the batter’s well-being after he was struck, and the batter gave a thumbs-up motion. Watch the delivery below.
Mark Wood, who replaced Shoaib Bashir as the second seamer, justified his decision by dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill in his first session.
Rohit Sharma stands tall with fifty as India reach 93-3 at lunch against England
England quickly dispatched Team India’s top order, leaving the opening batter stranded at one end of the crease. The hosts were down to 33-3 at one point after winning the toss.
Following the early setback, the captain teamed up with Ravindra Jadeja out in the middle to restore the innings. The all-rounder was upgraded to No.5 at his home field and has been instrumental in ensuring India does not lose any more wickets throughout the session.
Rohit Sharma scored fifty in 71 deliveries, demonstrating superb calm while mixing aggressiveness and caution to save India from a precarious scenario. The Men in Blue finished the first session with 93-3 after 25 overs.