"Got to be as ruthless as Rohit and Jadeja" - Nasser Hussain's advice to England batters after Day 1 of 3rd IND vs ENG Test
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has called for the visitors to be ruthless with their batting in the third Test against India in Rajkot. Hussain believes England have a window of opportunity but must keep India to less than 400 on Day 2 to exploit the same.
India did a sensational job of recovering from 33-3 to get to 326-5 by the close as Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja hit centuries to put their side in control. The pair added 204 before Rohit perished for 131, but Jadeja held the fort until the end of the day, staying unbeaten on 110.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Hussain observed that Rohit Sharma was determined not to give his wicket away after the reprieve by Joe Root and believes England's batters must display the same attitude. The 55-year-old reckons the visitors must score big hundreds, unlike the last Test.
"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. 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."
Debutant Sarfaraz Khan's contribution was equally critical as he reached his half-century off 48 balls. He added a quick-fire 77 with Jadeja before perishing for 62, thanks to a direct hit from Mark Wood.
"England's two seamers were exceptional" - Nasser Hussain
Hussain opined that England could've had a much better day despite the late wicket of Sarfaraz, given how well the first session went. He said:
"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. 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."
The five-Test series is currently locked at 1-1.