Rohit Sharma becomes the first Indian skipper to register a century in all three formats

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma brought up his ninth Test century after breaching the three figures mark against Australia in the Test series opener in Nagpur, becoming the first Indian skipper to register a century in all three formats of the game. The Indian opener looked in imperious touch from the get-go and has been largely untroubled on a not so easy-pitch.

The Indian captain has led from the front, keeping the Australian bowlers at bay on a difficult surface. He started his innings with a flurry of boundaries and has not looked back since then. Rohit registered a brisk half-century during the third session of the opening day of the Nagpur Test.

His partnership with KL Rahul ensured a solid start after the Aussies were dismissed for a below-par total. However, KL Rahul departed at the fag end of the day to hand the Aussies a bit of respite. But his opening partner stood tall and continued in the same vein on the second day.

Rohit stitched another decent stand with Ravichandran Ashwin, who was sent in after Rahul’s dismissal. However, Ashwin’s dismissal, followed by Cheteshwar Pujara’s departure made the Indian opener take a cautious approach at the crease. He survived a huge scare after a slight mix-up with Virat Kohli left him stranded. Sharma then made a full-length dive to save his wicket.

The departure of Kohli on the very first delivery after lunch also slowed the progress of his batting partner as the Australians sniffed a comeback into the match. Nathan Lyon clean bowled Suryakumar Yadav cheaply, who is a Test debutant, cheaply. But the 35-year old kept his cool and breached the three-figure mark with a boundary to register his first Test century as the Indian skipper.