‘Batting before Virat Kohli…’: Australia veteran awards Rohit Sharma the highest praise for being a “decent Test batter” after his century

Australia made a strong effort, taking six wickets on Day 2, three of which came in the first session, giving them a chance to limit the powerful Indian team to a modest score. But Rohit Sharma, the team’s captain, seemed to be batting on a separate field. Similar to the Chennai Test two years ago, Rohit fought alone against the opposition to notch a century as India jumped out to a commanding first-innings advantage. The greatest homage to the India captain was given by Australian star Ian Chappell, although he did it using the absurd “Virat Kohli” idea. (India vs. Australia Live Score, Day 3 of the First Test)

In 171 balls, Rohit scored his maiden century as India’s Test captain and eighth Test century overall. He became the fourth player overall and the first Indian skipper to ever achieve a century in all forms. He finally scored 120 runs off 212 balls, which was enough to push India above Australia’s first-innings total of 177.

In an interview with ESPNcricinfo after the conclusion of Day 2, Chappell praised Rohit for being a “decent Test hitter,” but thought that he only became one after being inserted ahead of Kohli in the batting order. He also thinks that having the position of captain gave him some “responsibility.”

“Batting before Virat Kohli has significantly changed his game (Rohit Sharma). I believe that batting after Kohli caused him some difficulty. However, I believe that accepting the leadership and recognizing that you must take responsibility for everything that occurs has also made a significant impact, and he has developed into a very excellent Test batter “said he.

He said, “A very, very excellent knock by Rohit Sharma. “He essentially led the other Indian players in the right direction by demonstrating how he preferred them to play. Today, he has shown considerably more restraint. He played a Test match knock.”

However, Rohit wasn’t the only batter to cause problems for Australia. The all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who had a five-wicket haul on Day 1, came back to knock 50 runs as India increased their advantage to 144 runs at the end of Day 2 with three wickets remaining and Jadeja still on 66* from 170.