Rohit Sharma Hits Eden Ghosts Out Of The Park, Puts India In Driver's Seat In Kolkata Test

Rohit Sharma's love affair with the Eden Gardens continued today after his 82 from 132 balls helped India reach a commanding position in the Kolkata Test against New Zealand. Rohit came in to bat when India were in a tricky position at 43 for 4 but along with Virat Kohli and Wriddhiman Saha resurrected India's innings and took the second-innings lead over 300, giving the hosts a massive advantage going into the fourth day.

BCCL

The pitch at the Eden Gardens has till now kept all the batsmen on their toes with indifferent bounce and lateral movement. On such a wicket, Rohit seemed as if he's batting on a different turf. He hit a total of nine fours and two sixes to stamp his class in the innings that had captain Virat Kohli the second highest scorer till now with 45.

The flamboyant Mumbai batsman has often been criticised for not being able to make it big in Test cricket despite possessing serious talent. But Rohit, somewhat, answered back his detractors in this series hitting his second successive half-century.

"There is no pressure. It only comes from the media that I'm under pressure. You may have seen that on the field. Did I look under pressure in the first or this Test?" he shot back.

AFP

He first shared 48 runs with Kohli (45) for the fifth wicket before stitching 103-run seventh-wicket partnership with Wriddhiman Saha (39 batting) took take India to 227 for eight at close.

"You have to play each ball on its merit and cannot think too far ahead. We kept focused at every ball thrown to us. It was all about building partnerships. There has been quick wickets and it needed one or two batsmen to get you out of trouble," Rohit said. "From the team's perspective, that 100-plus partnership with Saha was crucial. We could put pressure back on New Zealanders."

AFP

Surely, Rohit can feel contented with this knock as it augers well for India who will push for a win tomorrow to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the Test series and reclaim the No 1 Test ranking from Pakistan.

Rohit sharma d successor of vvs @ Eden gardens.. he took 19 test matches to complete his 1000 runs..exactly d same as @sachin_rt @ImRo45..

¡ª john francklin (@john_francklin) October 2, 2016

Rohit sharma and eden garden made for each other. #IndvsNZ... Perhaps his best test innings..

¡ª priyankesh (@drpriyankesh) October 2, 2016

Rohit Sharma 187 in this series with an avg of 62.33@ImRo45 ??????
I hope they send him up the order from next match!

¡ª Advait Deshpande (@AdvaitAOL) October 2, 2016

Rohit Sharma Haters Right Now. ;)#INDvNZ #INDvsNZpic.twitter.com/5HYZiH00qU

¡ª Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadejaaaa) October 2, 2016