Kolkata Test: Rohit Sharma's debut century rescues India

Rohit Sharma cut down on his flamboyance to author a chanceless century on debut and put India in command overcoming morning jitters on day two of the first cricket Test match against the West Indies in Sachin Tendulkar39s farewell series here Thursday Five days after plundering a double hundred in the ODI against Australia that left the cricketing world stunned Rohit mixed caution with elegance to remain unconquered on 127 as India finished the day on 3546 at the Eden Gardens Sharma became the 14th Indian to score a century on debut Rohit Sharma File pic Giving Rohit company in the middle was a brilliant Ravichandran Ashwin 92 batting 148 b 10x4 with the duo eclipsing the good work done by the visitors39 talented offspinner Shane Shillingford 4122 who pulverised the Indian batsmen in the opening session by claiming four scalps Rohit and Ashwin were the batting heroes of the day as they combined to pull India out of trouble RohitAshwin39s unbroken seventh wicket partnership has fetched 198 and the hosts have now opened up a 120run lead over the West Indies39 first innings total of 234 The lead on a tricky Eden Gardens strip has put India in the driverrsquos seat With retiring legend Sachin Tendulkar being given out in a contentious manner in his penultimate match the inform Rohit struck 16 fours and one six while facing 228 balls to rescue the team On a dramatic day of fluctuating fortunes the morning session belonged to the visitors before the hosts steadied the ship postlunch and then consolidated their position with a rollicking batting show in the final two hours It has turned out to be an astounding year for Rohit who scored a double century in ODIs captained the Mumbai Indians to IPL and Champion League crowns got appointed captain of Mumbai Ranji team before his feat Thursday For long notorious for throwing his wicket after good starts Rohit had to wait for six years during which he played 108 One Day matches before making it to the Indian Test XI But once he made the cut the 26yearold announced his arrival with a bang as he spearheaded a salvage effort after India were at one time deep in the woods at 835 Rohit reached the threefigure mark in style with two backtoback boundaries off another debutant Sheldon Cottrel to reach 102 in the 23rd over after tea The milestone achieved the young man raised his arms pumped his fists took off his helmet and waved his bat The hundred came in 239 minutes as the stylish willower faced 194 balls and unleashed a dozen fours and a solitary six off Shillingford to become the 14th Indian to score a hundred on his maiden Test appearance He is also the third Indian after Deepak Shodhan and Mohammad Azharuddin to crack a ton on debut at the Eden Gardens Turning out in his 17th Test match Ashwin played like a specialist batsman after coming to the crease at 1566 when skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni 42 got out Ashwin crafted some fluent strokes to finish the day eight short of his second hundred He had scored a matchsaving century when the two teams had last met in 2011 in the Mumbai Test Rohit and Ashwin39s efforts helped the crowd recover from the heartbreak of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar39s cheap dismissal albeit to a debatable umpiring decision The big wicket of Tendulkar fell when Shillinford bowled a doosra which pitched on the middle straightened eluded an outside edge from Tendulkar39s defensive bat and hit the back pad high Umpire Nigel Llong of England raised the index finger as pindrop silence descended on the stadium Replays showed the ball striking the pad quite high and could have gone over the stumps Tendulkar faced 21 balls during his 41minute stay The memorable part were two exquisite fours through deep midwicket off Shllingford in the bowler39s sixth over The first was in fact the day39s number one boundary At lunch India were 1205 114 adrift of the West indies However the complexion of the match started changing postlunch as Rohit and Dhoni put on 73 runs for the sixth wicket Dhoni earlier dropped at 12 was the sole batsman to get out in the second session There was a change of ball and it yielded immediate result Starting a new spell Tino Best got the leather to move just enough to induce an edge from Dhoni39s bat who went for a drive while rooted in his crease But thereafter it was just hard work for the West Indies bowlers without much luck