While the focus for the English ahead of the third Test was on Ben Stokes winning his 100th cap (various greatest hits compilations serve as the drumbeat for the momentous match) the bunting also emerged on the Indian side of the divide.
The Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium is officially named after Niranjan Shah, a well-known local and national administrator. At the VVIP event held to celebrate this, Jay Shah announced that Rohit Sharma will lead India in this year’s T20 World Cup and promised that the trophy will be theirs. “Hum Bharat ka jhanda gadenge” (We will hoist the Indian flag).
Relating to: India bounce back after early wobble against England: Third Test, day one – as it happens
This coronation was a bit intriguing to an outsider, as Shah was the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, not its chief selector, and Sharma was expected to do the job anyway. Perhaps it was intended as a public welcome. After all, last year’s World Cup final heartbreak was among a variety of speculative diagnoses as to why Sharma was a dormant volcano during the first two Tests.
Either way, on the opening day in Rajkot, this volcano finally erupted as Sharma went from dormant to dominant. Over five hours and after a worrying start at the other end, India’s Test skipper amassed his Test Century No 11 with 131 off 196 balls. Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 106 in the first match and Safaraz Khan’s eye-catching 62 saw the home team reach an ominous 326 in the last five overs.
The recent rise of Sarfaraz, a chubby right-hander with a high first-class average of 69.85, will be celebrated in the squares of Mumbai. His father and coach Naushad was crying when the cap was first released and he must have gone to heaven after tea. Sarfaraz, who emerged with 237 for four when Sharma finally departed, plundered nine fours and a six in a veritable whirlwind of ball-strike-ball form.
All this was threatening to overshadow Jadeja, who played the leading role in the 204-run fourth wicket stand with Sharma. This came just shy of his century and with the home crowd awaiting the ultimate sword-twirling celebration, Jadeja looked for a single that saw Sarfaraz get a frustrating run out and then thought better of it.
Mark Wood was the fielder who bowled the stumps here; a final reward on a typical day of pace and heart that ended with three wickets in his personal column. Among them was Sharma, who blasted the ball towards mid-wicket. Although India’s skipper was more angry at Sarfaraz being interrupted in the dying embers of the session, throwing his hat on the ground and shouting expletives.
Yet Safaraz’s crunch was built on his and Jadeja’s standout experience. The last time India played a Test series without one of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar in their XI was 1989, and that match saw three rookies leave the team in the 45th minute. Pujara, who scored from behind with his Saurashtra teammates ahead of the Ranji Trophy fixture, is still too polite a character not to smile.
England certainly were, though the tourists initially denied Sharma winning the toss thanks to early moisture on the pitch. This was obvious when Rajat Patidar’s departure made the score 33 for three in the ninth over; The right-hander was fooled by Tom Hartley’s ball, which caught the surface and bounced, and made a soft catch.
But the real issue was that Orman jumped out of the traps on his return. Jimmy Anderson’s 25th new-ball partner in Test cricket evaporated both last week’s centurions; Yashasvi Jaiswal was on the verge of slipping when one left the seam before Shubman Gill’s timid nine-ball duck was finished off by tucking it to the other end. India appeared to be seeing stars when Wood then tapped a wicked bouncer off Sharma.
After a masterful move from India, Jadeja moved up to the 5th position, where he had averaged 11 in his previous six attempts, and started pouring concrete into the holes along with Sharma. However, India’s skipper had a few near misses in the twenties. Joe Root failed to take a sharp low catch to his left off Hartley’s bowling – it went unnoticed by Sharma trying to cross mid-wicket – and Anderson was tipped lbw by a feathered inside edge.
It then became a case of England waiting for the mistake, which did not come until midway through the evening session – not a situation Stokes enjoys waiting for. But after reaching 93 for three at lunch, Sharma and Jadeja acted wisely to the England skipper’s various schemes, especially when the ball started to reverse a touch by spelling a four to Anderson.
Egos were put aside here, with Sharma instead opting to feast on the all-too-ordinary stuff from the spinners. A chance to get into the nineties, Rehan Ahmed’s wrist chopper whip was a treat for the eyes; The statisticians were mumbling at the end of the piece when he swung back and flicked the leg-spinner over the rope to surpass MS Dhoni’s record. 211 sixes as India’s all-format captain.
Advantage India then. Although, given the nature of this series, it would be too early to promise that their flags will be raised at the end of this series.