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Former England captain Nasser Hussain urged England to be as ruthless with the bat as India captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, after the opening day of the third Test witnessed hosts dominate the visitor's attack in Rajkot.
The formidable partnership of 204 runs between captain Rohit and Jadeja firmly placed India in control on Day 1 of the ongoing third Test against England in Rajkot on Thursday. At stumps, India's score read 326/5 with Ravindra Jadeja (110) and Kuldeep Yadav (1) standing unbeaten at the crease. Hussain believes that in order to make a comeback in the third Test, England must knock India out for fewer than 400. Former England captain praised Rohit Sharma for placing a premium on his wicket and forcing the English bowlers to work hard. After a streak of poor scores, Rohit returned to form with a magnificent 131-run knockoff 196 balls, including 14 fours and three sixes. "England will want to wrap up the lower order of India. There is an opportunity for them tomorrow morning, but they're going to have to bowl them out for less than 400. India have been a bit sloppy with the bat in this series, gifting England a few soft dismissals, and you could see that Rohit, after that drop, was absolutely determined not to give his wicket away," Hussain said as quoted by Sky Sports. Hussain stated that England must bat with a good purpose in their first innings. He believes the Three Lions' hitters cannot afford to waste their starts now that they are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. "It's the sort of pitch where first-innings runs are going to be vital. That's where India were good today, with two centurions already. When England come round to bat, they've got to be as ruthless as Rohit and Jadeja. In the last game, there were a lot of starts - 20s, 30s, 40s - but you win Test matches with hundreds, and big hundreds," he added. With India reaching stumps on 326-5, the former England captain praised Mark Wood's "exceptional" effort of 3-69 on his comeback to the side after missing the second Test. "England have had a difficult day. They were buoyed by the late run out of Sarfaraz [Khan], the debutant, right at the end of play but it could have been so much better. India were 47-3 when Root dropped Rohit. The day had started so well; England's two-seamers were exceptional - Wood, in particular, when coming back into the side," Hussain said. "Jaiswal nicked to slip and Gill got an absolute beauty. They are two lads in decent form, with a double-hundred and a hundred already in the series," he added. (ANI)
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