2nd Test: Rohit Helps India Reach 300/6 On Day 1 Against England (Day Report)
Rohit Sharma scored a dazzling 161 to propel India to a healthy score in front of returning fans as England's bowlers hit back late on the opening day of the second Test Saturday.
Brief scores (Day 1): India 300/6 wkts in 88 overs (Rohit Sharma 161, Ajinkya Rahane 67, Rishabh Pant 33 batting; Axar Patel 5 batting, Jack Leach 2/78, Moeen Ali 2/95)
Chennai Test: India vs England, Day 1 Report
India won the toss and elected to bat after handing left-arm spinner Axar Patel his Test debut and bringing in paceman Mohammed Siraj and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav into the team.
For England, pace bowler Stuart Broad came in for James Anderson, Olly Stone replaced the injured Jofra Archer. Off-spinning all-rounder Moeen Ali replaced Dom Bess while Ben Foakes replaced Jos Buttler who has gone back to England.
The Indian players were greeted by whistles and chants of "Rohit, Rohit" as Indian cricket welcomed back a limited number of its raucous fanbase for the match.
India had lost Shubman Gill early with the team still to open its account. But then Sharma and No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara (21) shared an 85-run partnership for the second wicket to help India move into a commanding position. The partnership was dominated by Sharma as he unleashed his strokes.
On a pitch that aided turn early on, England introduced left-arm spinner, Jack Leach, as early as the eighth over of the match. Sharma, however, looked in control and put India in the driver's seat before a couple of wickets late in the first session gave Joe Root's team some relief.
Leach took Pujara for 21 and Moeen Ali's prized scalp of Virat Kohli left India 106 for three at lunch. Ali bowled Kohli through the gate as the Indian captain stood shocked for a few moments while the TV umpire checked to see if the bail had been dislodged by the wicketkeeper's gloves, before walking off to stunned silence.
Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, who made 67, put together a fourth-wicket stand of 162 to raise the noise of cheering fans who had been allowed into the ground for the first time since the pandemic.
The opener hit his seventh Test century -- and first against England -- and crossed 150 in his 36th five-day match to a standing ovation from the ecstatic crowd. But Leach broke through with his left-arm spin to send Sharma trudging back to the pavilion in the final session after the batsman holed out a catch to deep square leg.
Rahane, who hit form after scores of one and nought in the first Test, soon fell to Ali, bowled on another good delivery by the off-spinner. India lost three wickets in the final session.
India reached 300 for six at stumps after electing to bat first in Chennai. Rishabh Pant, on 33, and Axar Patel, on five, were batting at close of play.