Team India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel hailed Rohit Sharma for leading from the front and taking an aggressive route during their 1st innings against Bangladesh on Day 4 of the 2nd Test at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. India launched an assault on Bangladesh from the start with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring 30 off first 13 balls and Rohit hitting 19 from first six balls. The Indian openers shared a 55-run stand within the first four overs to break the record of fastest fifty in Test by a team.
“Even from GG’s (Gautam Gambhir) point of view, we decided to take the game forward as fast as possible, and you need a leader from the front to do that. And Rohit has done it so many times, and again today. To go to the first ball, bang six on a surface where the bounce might be up and down, or you may not be sure how the new ball is going to play. You can also slightly go on the back foot as a bowling unit. So it was great to see the captain, leading from the front, putting in the charge,” he said.
Rohit’s onslaught set tone for India
Rohit fell for 23 runs from 11 balls, which featured three sixes and a boundary. Meanwhile, Jaiswal was on course to become India’s fastest centurion, but departed after a scintillating 72 from just 51 balls. It was like a pro max version of bazball as India had a record-breaking day.
Morkel said that even the Bangladesh team wouldn’t have expected an assault like that from Indian batters.
“To show the intent with the bat was awesome. I don’t think, as a bowling unit, they (Bangladesh) expected that to happen. But it was always part of our game plan to see how can we push this forward and get the winning result,” he added.
A record-shattering day
India recorded the highest run-rate ever for a Test innings by scoring at 8.22 runs per over, finishing with 285 for 9 declared in just 34.4 overs. They also set multiple records along the way, becoming the fastest team to reach 50, 100, and 200 runs in men’s Test history.
India hit their first fifty runs in just 18 balls, breaking the previous record set by England earlier this year, who took 26 deliveries against West Indies in Nottingham. They then reached the 100-run mark in just 10.1 overs, bettering their own record set against West Indies in Port of Spain in 2023.
For the 200-run milestone, India crossed it in just 24.2 overs, breaking the previous fastest 200 set by Australia, who reached it in 2017 against Pakistan during the Sydney Test. This performance showcased India’s aggressive and dominant batting approach, rewriting several records in the process.
