Nasser Hussain: "The day had started so well; England's two seamers were exceptional - [Mark] Wood, in particular... There is an opportunity for them tomorrow morning, but they're going to have to bowl [India] out for less than 400"
Thursday 15 February 2024 13:30, UK
England must be as ruthless with the bat as India centurions Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain said following the first day's play of the third Test in Rajkot.
With India reaching stumps on 326-5, the former England captain also hailed the "exceptional" performance of Mark Wood in taking 3-69 on his return to the side after sitting out the second Test.
Wood dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill inside the opening six overs as India slipped to 33-3 despite winning the toss, returning to finally prise out Rohit for 131 in the evening session. Joe Root had earlier dropped the India captain on 27.
"England have had a difficult day," Hussain said. "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.
"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."
After Tom Hartley removed Rajat Patidar, England struggled to make further inroads, with Rohit and Jadeja putting on 204 for the fourth wicket, the latter joined his skipper through to a century late in the day.
Sarfaraz was run out, much to the annoyance of Rohit watching on from the dressing room, after a hugely entertaining 62 off 66 balls, with Jadeja finishing the day 110 not out.
"England will want to wrap up the lower order of India," Hussain said. "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.
"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."
Hussain also had one note of caution for the England batters before beginning their innings, with the threat of India pacer Jasprit Bumrah and reverse swing looming large.
Bumrah was named player of the match in the series-levelling second Test, taking six-for in the first innings to rip through the England batting order on his way to finishing with match figures of 9-91.
"The one concern for England will be that Anderson and Wood got the ball reverse-swinging after about 30 overs.
"With Bumrah in the opposition, and given what we saw in the last game when he got six-for, that could be a threat as the game progresses."
Follow over-by-over text commentary from the third Test between India and England, in Rajkot, live on skysports.com and the Sky Sports App from 3.45am on Friday (first ball at 4am).
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