After making an impressive start to his captaincy reign in limited-overs cricket, Rohit Sharma made a memorable start as India cricket team’s full-time Test captain.
Rohit Sharma-led India thrashed Sri Lanka by 238 runs in the second Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to complete a 2-0 whitewash over the Lankan Tigers.
The Nagpur-born cricketer is the 35th player to lead India in Test cricket and the eighth oldest debutant Test skipper.
Oldest Indian on Test captaincy debut
| Player | Age | Opposition | Ground | Date |
| Hemu Adhikari | 39y 190d | West Indies | Delhi | 06 February 1959 |
| Vinoo Mankad | 37y 264d | Pakistan | Dhaka | 01 January 1955 |
| Anil Kumble | 37y 36d | Pakistan | Delhi | 22 November 2007 |
| CK Nayudu | 36y 238d | England | Lord's | 25 June 1932 |
| Vijay Hazare | 36y 236d | England | Delhi | 02 November 1951 |
| Nawab of Pataudi Snr | 36y 98d | England | Lord's | 22 June 1946 |
| Lala Amarnath | 36y 78d | Australia | Brisbane | 28 November 1947 |
| Rohit Sharma | 34y 308d | Sri Lanka | Mohali | 04 March 2022 |
| Chandu Borde | 33y 155d | Australia | Adelaide | 23 December 1967 |
| Ghulam Ahmed | 33y 138d | New Zealand | Hyderabad (Deccan) | 19 November 1955 |
After Rohit won the toss and elected to bat first, India rode on Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 175 and fifties from Rishabh Pant (96), Ravichandran Ashwin (61) and Hanuma Vihari (58) to power the hosts to 574/8d in their first innings.
In reply, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 174 in their first innings as Rohit-led India decided to enforce the follow-on. In the second innings as well, the visitors lost wickets at regular intervals as they were bundled out for 178 in the second innings, leading to the hosts winning the Test by an innings and 222 runs.
For India, star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the wrecker-in-chief as he picked nine wickets for 87 runs over two innings of the first Test.
With this massive win, Rohit became just the second Indian Test captain to win a match by an innings on captaincy debut in the longest format of the game. Late cricketer Polly Umrigar was the first India captain to secure a Test win by an innings on Test debut.
Under Umrigar’s captaincy, India defeated New Zealand by an innings and 27 runs in 1955.
Largest victory on Test captaincy debut
| Player | Margin | Opposition | Ground | Year |
| Ridley Jacobs (WI) | inns & 310 runs | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2002 |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | inns & 222 runs | Sri Lanka | Mohali | 2022 |
| Monty Bowden (ENG) | inns & 202 runs | South Africa | Cape Town | 1889 |
| Lord Hawke (ENG) | inns & 197 runs | South Africa | Johannesburg | 1896 |
| Ian Johnson (AUS) | inns & 154 runs | England | Brisbane | 1954 |
Interestingly, Rohit became the 10th Indian captain to secure a Test win on captaincy debut.
Rohit Sharma Test captaincy record
Since taking over the captaincy from Virat Kohli, who stepped down from the post after suffering 1-2 defeat against South Africa in the rainbow nation in January, Rohit has led India in three Tests so far, and returned victorious thrice.
|
Matches |
Won |
Lost |
Tied |
NR |
Win% |
|
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
Featured photo: PRAKASH SINGH / AFP
