India vs England, 4th Test: Rohit Sharma registers elite record as opener on Day 2
India vs England, 4th Test: Rohit Sharma registers elite record as opener on Day 2 (Photo/Twitter)
Rohit Sharma became the fastest Asian to 1,000 runs in Test cricket as opener on Friday during the underway fourth Test between India and England in Ahmedabad.
Rohit took only 17 innings to breach the 1,000-mark as an opener in the red-ball game, surpassing compatriot Mayank Agarwal who got to the landmark in 19 innings last December. The Mumbai batsman, overall, became the third fastest opener to 1,000 runs equaling former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith's feat. Only the England duo of Herbert Sutcliffe and Len Hutton have reached the mark quicker in 13 and 16 innings, respectively.
Among Indian batsmen, former opener and now India's head coach, Ravi Shastri and ex-captain Sunil Gavaskar had reached 1,000 Test runs as an opener in 20 innings. The two are tied in the third spot on the list of fastest Indian to 1,000 runs as openers in the longest format of the game ahead of Virender Sehwag (23 innings).
Rohit also became the first opener to score 1,000 runs and the fastest Asian to the milestone in the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship (WTC). Rohit, who took 11 matches to reach the milestone, beat India's Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, who had taken 15 matches to get to the mark in the second Test against England in Chennai last month. Rahane and Rohit are the only two Indians to have scored 1,000 or more runs in the 2019-21 WTC.
Meanwhile, India captain Virat Kohli is still 123 runs away from the 1000-run mark in the ongoing WTC and the fourth Test against England is the final fixture of the competition.
The other cricketers, who have scored 1,000 or more runs in the WTC are Australian stars Marnus Labuschagne (1,675 runs in 13 Tests) and Steve Smith (1,341 in 13 Tests) and England's outstanding pair of Joe Root (1,630 in 20* Tests) and Ben Stokes (1,301 in 17* Tests).
Earlier in the day, India ended Day two of the fourth Test at the Motera Stadium at 294 for 7 and have extended their lead to 89 runs. Washington Sundar and Axar Patel will resume their innings on Saturday at 60 and 11 respectively. India's wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant top-scored for the hosts as he registered his third Test century. He scored 101 off 118 balls, including 13 fours and two sixes.
Meanwhile, the English attack had a decent day as they did not let the Indian batters score comfortably. James Anderson picked three wickets, while Stokes and Jack Leach had two scalps each to their name on Friday.