Throughout this English summer, notwithstanding it being uninvitingly cold, clammy and cloudy, Rohit Sharma has looked like conquering the conditions and scoring a Test century.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After promising to do so in more than one of his previous innings on the tour, he finally accomplished the distinction on the third day of the ongoing fourth India-England Test match in a series of five engagements. And with the feat he broke the hoodoo of not having recorded a three-figure knock in Tests outside India.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sharma is too good a batsman not to have registered a hundred abroad. It was inevitable, a matter of time before he rectified the anomaly. He squandered opportunities in this series as well, throwing away his wicket twice, hooking ill-advisedly. But he finally made amends, completing his task with a flourish -- a towering six over long on at the expense of Moeen Ali.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the course of his essay, he offered a difficult chance and a half-chance to Rory Burns in the slips. But these were minor blemishes compared to the authority and array of his strokes in general. Given the grimness of a 99-run deficit staring down at India, he paced himself perfectly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Circumspect for a considerable period; then the characteristic Sharma. He consumed 145 balls to cross his first 50 -- the slowest of his career; his second half-century came off just 59 deliveries.<\/p>\r\n\r\n