captain Rohit Sharma hit a brave 120 at Nagpur as India extended their lead to 144 despite the Australian’s debut Todd Murphy‘s five shots on the Opening Test. India is 321-7 at the root of the tree with comprehensive Ravindra Jadeja proved his worth for the second day in a row after returning to the internationals with an undefeated record of 66. Murphy, 22, regularly gets hit with deflected shots in an attempt to check the rise. India’s rise but Jadeja continued to attack after Rohit was sacked soon after tea. Jadeja is hitting the ball with a left-hander Axar Patelwho hit 52, as the pair hit an undefeated record of 81 for match eight.
Rohit has taken the lead since his ninth century of Tests to extend Indian dominance after they knocked Australia out in 177th place on the first day of a series of four Tests.
The captain defied the spinners to hit his hundreds with the line ahead of Murphy in the second session, and took off his helmet to join in the applause. He booked a key spot in 61 runs Friday with Jadeja, who stood firm after Rohit’s departure to score fifty after his five batting in the Australian innings.
Jadeja, who has three hundred Tests, swung her signature sword with a staff to mark her half-eighteenth century in a five-day format.
Murphy stands out to tourists with his respectable control to take down Indian cricket’s fiercest opponents including Virat kohliarrested after 12. Murphy, who claimed KL Rahul like his first Test stick on Thursday, stuck Ravichandran Ashwin lbw and yes Cheteshwar Pujara caught in good short legs in the first session.
Premium Australian Spinner Nathan Lyon feeling spoiled Twenty20 Suryakumar YadavHis first test after he bowled the pitcher on the eighth point to put India in 168-5. But Rohit who started a new day passed the 56th night and broke Pat Cummins and Lyon each got six points, and Jadeja quickly regained momentum with a combination of caution and aggression.
Cummins took the second new ball after tea to return Rohit the handball, one after he was dropped by Steve Smith on the second miss.
Murphy soon won his fifth bag when he fell into the co-launcher’s trap Srikar Bharat lbw — a decision not made by arbitration but successfully reviewed by Australia.
Jadeja, who returned from a knee injury with a score of 5–47 on Thursday, continued alongside Patel as they frustrated the opponent’s attack in the final hour of play. Axar broke eight boundaries on his way to his Second Test of fifty.
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Sachin was the other player in the ‘Desert Storm’ innings: Sharjah MD . Stadium
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