IND vs SL: Rohit Sharma Becomes Second Indian Captain To Achieve This Milestone On Test Captaincy Debut

Team India’s new Test skipper Rohit Sharma achieved a very rare feat in his first match as the captain of the red-ball side. On Sunday, India defeated Sri Lanka by a heavy margin of an innings and 222 runs in the first Test at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium in Mohali.

Rohit became the 35th player to lead the Indian Test side since CK Nayudu led the team in 1932 against England. The 34-year-old took over the reins from Virat Kohli, who stepped down from the role after India’s series defeat to South Africa in January this year.

Rohit Sharma achieves rare record on Test captaincy debut

Rohit became the second Indian Test captain to win a match by an innings on his captaincy debut in the oldest format of the game. Polly Umrigar is the other skipper to win by an innings and 27 runs in his first Test as captain against New Zealand in 1955.

Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round brilliance with the bat and ball was the highlight of the first Test. Jadeja scored 175* in the first innings as India posted a huge score of 574/8 and picked the match figures of 9/87 to help India wrap the game inside three days.

It was a great game of cricket from our perspective: Rohit Sharma

Rohit said that he didn’t expect the first Test to conclude within three days but said the team ticked all the boxes and credited the bowlers for their dominating performance.

” It was a good start. It was a great game of cricket from our perspective. We ticked all the boxes we wanted to. To be honest, I didn’t think it is going to be that kind of a Test match which would get over in three days,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation ceremony. 

“It was a good batting pitch, there was some turn and some assistance for the seamers as well. Lot of credit to the guys, they bowled very well in tandem, kept the pressure and never made it easier for the Sri Lanka batsmen. We just ensured we applied pressure from both ends. Good signs for India cricket,” he added. 

India will play the second match against Sri Lanka at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru between March 12-16.

Also Read: IND vs SL: Ravindra Jadeja Is Just Upping His Game Every Time You See Him – Rohit Sharma