Rohit struck 161 on Saturday, his 7th Test century.
Indian opener Rohit Sharma smacked 161 off 231 balls on the opening day of the second Test against England at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. This was his seventh century in the longest format with all of them coming in India. It was also the first international century scored by an Indian batsman in 2021.
Rohit hit 18 fours and two sixes in his innings, also becoming the first batsman to score a century in each format against four different teams (Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies and England). He seemed set for much more before failing to keep a sweep off Jack Leach down and was caught by Moeen Ali in the deep.
The opener seemed to be batting on a different pitch from rest of the Indian batting, as only Ajinkya Rahane (67) offered substantial support from the other end before Rishabh Pant's brisk unbeaten 33 in the closing stages of the day. India went into stumps at 300/6 in 88 overs, a fine total on a pitch getting difficult to bat.
WATCH - When Rohit Sharma left Ritika Sajdeh and fans tensed in 90s
Rohit's wife Ritika Sajdeh was also in attendance at the ground, and her animated expressions were caught by the cameraman often during the day. Later, the opener took to Twitter, to share a picture in which he and his daughter Samaira were giving a rub to Ritika's sore fingers, as she keeps her fingers crossed when he bats.
Rohit wrote, "Fingers seem to be fine. Sammy and I giving mamma a little rub on sore fingers."