STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsA fight-back was expected from India and that is what we got from them on day three. After batting the whole day, India lost only two wickets and cut 215 runs of the 354-run deficit. Cheteshwar Pujara has stepped up to the mark and has been sensational. Rohit Sharma played his part with yet another half-century. The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli is also looking in good touch with an unbeaten 45. India are still trailing by 139 runs and they need to bat another day and endure it like they did on the second day. Unlike the second day, there are very few stats from day three. Here is a look at few of them:
India’s biggest lead under Virat’s captaincy
Kohli is one of the most successful captains in modern times. Having the fourth most number wins is proof of it. However, there have been times when his team has let him down and the third Test is one of them. Previously in 2018 at Lord’s, Kohli led India had conceded a lead of 289 against England in the first innings, which was the highest under his captaincy. But, in this match that was broken as England took a lead of 354. Interestingly, the top three all have been against England.
Rohit bats for 500+ for the first time in away series
Since the time he has opened the innings, Rohit has consistently been among runs. Though he doesn’t have a century in an away match, he is there and there about since he started to open the innings. In this series, Rohit for the first time batted for more than 500 balls, which is the first for him in an away series and the third overall. Previous to this series, the most balls faced by him in an away series was in the 2014 Australian tour when he batted 387 balls.
Rohit goes past Farokh in an unwanted record
Since he started to open the innings Rohit has averaged 38.5 in away/neutral conditions as compared to 26.3 before. However, he still doesn’t have one century to his name and has scored over 1200 runs. Among Indians, he is one among the six batsmen to score over 1000 runs in away/neutral conditions without a century. Unfortunately, he tops the list as well. He went past Farokh Engineer’s tally of 1209 in 39 innings.
Pujara’s fastest fifty in SENA countries
Under tremendous pressure to perform Pujara came out with flying colors. In fact, it was an un-Pujaraisque innings to be precise. In the first 30 balls of this innings Pujara had scored runs at a strike rate of 73, which came in as a surprise. However, he started to slow down a bit, but reached his half century in 91 balls. This was the fastest half-century for him in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia). His previous fastest came in 95 balls against the same opposition in 2014 at Trent Bridge.
