Ton-up Rohit Sharma takes India to a commanding 202/0 at tea against SA
Visakhapatnam, Oct 2: Rohit Sharma made a dream start as a Test opener, scoring an unbeaten 115 off 174 balls to take India to a commanding 202 for no loss at tea on day one of the series opener against South Africa here on Wednesday.
While South African bowlers did trouble the Indian batsmen on a few occasions in the first session, they seemed toothless in the afternoon session where Rohit and Mayank Agarwal (84 not out off 183) scored at a brisk rate.
Rohit, who got to his fifty before lunch, shifted gears and was particularly harsh on the spinners.
He hammered offie Danie Piedt for successive sixes over deep midwicket to get into the nineties before completing his fourth Test ton with a single off debutant spinner Senuran Muthusamy.
The entire dressing room including skipper Virat Kohli stood up to laud Rohit's feat. His unconquered innings comprised 12 fours and five sixes.
At the other end, Agarwal was cruising towards his maiden Test ton. He too looked assured at the crease and played his shots.
Early into the afternoon session, he brought up his half century with a spectacular six over extra cover off Keshav Maharaj.
Clouds gathered over the stadium towards the end of the session and thunderstorms forced the umpires to take the tea break eight minutes before scheduled time.
Earlier, Rohit and Agarwal played out 30 overs in the morning session after safely negotiating the South African pacers Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander, taking India to 91 for no loss.
India, who had named their playing on the eve of the first Test, opted to bat on a dry surface with skipper Kohli calling his decision a "no brainer."
Expecting the pitch to turn, South Africa picked three spinners in Maharaj, Piedt and Muthusamy, who is more of a batting all-rounder.
All eyes were expectedly on Rohit whose stop-start Test career has taken a new direction with the management accommodating him at the top of the order.
He left the first ball he faced before driving Rabada past backward point with minimal feet movement for a four.
His second scoring shot was also a boundary as he punched Philander towards backward point. The pitch offered very little to the pacers and spinners in the first two hours of play.
What worked for Rohit was standing outside the crease when Philander was bowling to negate any little swing that was available.
Rabada has the express pace but he did not test the Indian openers as much as Philander.
Rohit and Philander's battle in the first hour was absorbing. Philander, who got the better of Rohit in the warm-up game, challenged Rohit by moving the ball both ways in his opening spell of four overs.
After a few play and misses, Rohit chose to walk down the pitch before South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis asked wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock to stand up to the stumps.
India reached 37 for 0 in 15 overs with Rohit and Agawal looking solid in the middle.
After getting the measure of the surface, Rohit went for his strokes like he does in white-ball cricket.
His first big hit was a typical one as he gently stepped out of the crease to smash Maharaj over long-on. A little later, he played a similar short off Piedt, only this time the ball flew well above the long-on fielder.
Rohit completed his 11th Test half-century towards the end of the session but in a not so convincing fashion. He mistimed a sweep but fortunately it was not in the reach of the fielder and went for four.
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Stalin claims DMK secured 1.54 crore votes
Chennai (PTI): DMK president M K Stalin on Tuesday, in a veiled reference to the TVK, claimed that the party that won additional constituencies has gained only 17.43 lakh more votes than the DMK.
He was referring to the April 23 Assembly polls where the DMK and its allies secured 74 seats, with the Dravidian party netting 59 constituencies.
In a statement, Stalin said, "the percentage difference in votes between us and them is just 3.52 per cent," in an apparent reference to the Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kahzagam emerged victorious in the polls, the results of which were announced on Monday.
Claiming that the DMK alliance has secured 1.54 crore votes, Stalin said, "I consider each and every one of your votes as an invaluable token of trust".
Stating that DMK has been in power several times, he said "there is no victory we have not seen and there is no defeat we have not faced".
"Whether in victory or defeat, those who regard them equally and continue their journey toward their ideals are the comrades of the party", he said adding "you are the lifeblood and roots of the movement".
"The harvest of 1.54 crore votes is the fruit of your commitment", he said.
"What return can I offer for your hard work? With the feeling of being the chief worker, we will continue our journey," the DMK chief added.
Stalin said "if we are the ruling party, we will formulate schemes for the people. If we are the opposition party, we will fight for the people's demands. In that regard, now as a strong opposition party, we will continue to work for the people".
Asserting that the DMK will continue the journey of taking forward the policies of the century-old great Dravidian movement, protecting race, language, and nation, the DMK leader said "in our journey, I will not leave anyone behind. We will win again".
