NEW DELHI: Former England captain
Nasser Hussain
has called upon the England team to display the same level of ruthlessness with the bat as demonstrated by India's captain
Rohit Sharma
and all-rounder
Ravindra Jadeja
on the opening day of the third Test in Rajkot.
The dominant partnership of 204 runs between captain Rohit and Jadeja firmly established India's control on Day 1 of the third Test against England on Thursday.
As play concluded for the day, India's score stood at 326/5, with Jadeja (110) and
Kuldeep Yadav
(1) remaining undefeated at the crease.
Hussain suggests that for a comeback in the third Test, England need to dismiss India for a total of fewer than 400 runs.
The former England captain commended Rohit for valuing his wicket and making the English bowlers put in extra effort. Following a series of low scores, Rohit made a strong comeback with a splendid innings of 131 runs off 196 balls, featuring 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.
(With inputs from ANI)
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