India vs South Africa, 2019: 3rd Test, Day 1 – Rohit's record century, India's oldest line-up, South Africa's toss luck and more stats

The rain-affected first day of the Ranchi Test came to an end with India in a dominating position but not before they lost three wickets in the opening session. India were reduced to 39/3 in the first hour after electing to bat first. However, Rohit Sharma (117*) survived the tough spell from Kagiso Rabada and co before unleashing his attacking best. He was well supported by Ajinkya Rahane (83*) who batted with aggressive intent. The duo added an unbeaten 185-run stand for the 4th wicket as India made 224/3 before stumps.

All the statistical highlights from the opening day of the Ranchi Test:

Oldest Indian line-up:

9 – Number of players aged 30+ in India’s playing XI of the Ranchi Test; the joint-most number of players aged 30+ India has fielded in a Test match. Prior to this series, India never fielded more than seven players of 30+ years in a Test match. However, the previous Test in Pune also had 9 such players in the XI while 8 players of age 30 and more played the first Test of this series in Vizag.

Rohit @ 400:

434 – Rohit Sharma became the first Indian player to score 400+ runs in a Test series against South Africa. Mohammad Azharuddin’s 388 runs in the 1996 home Test series are the previous most runs by an Indian in a Test series against the Proteas.

A new sixes record for Rohit:

17 – Number of sixes Rohit has hit in this Test series; the most by any player in a single Test series. Rohit has struck 11 of those sixes in the bowling of Dane Piedt.

Stats: Rohit Sharma breaks the world record for most sixes in a Test series

2 – This is the 2nd time Rohit Sharma has completed a Test ton by hitting a six. Among Indians, only Sachin Tendulkar (6) and Gautam Gambhir (2) completed more than one Test ton by hitting a six.

A series of centuries for Indian openers:

5 – Indian openers have scored five centuries in this series; the most by them in a Test series. The Indian openers scored four centuries in three different Test series before the current series.

Rohit Sharma alone scored three centuries making him only the 2nd Indian opener to hit three tons in a Test series. Sunil Gavaskar scored three and more hundreds hundreds in three different Test series as an Indian opener.

South Africa’s poor luck with the toss continues:

10 – South Africa now have lost the toss in each of their last ten Test matches in Asia. In the previous nine Tests in Asia, the South Africans lost seven matches while the other two ended in a draw. In fact, South Africa lost the toss in their previous six away Tests and ended up losing in all of them.

Nadeem’s long wait:

110 – Number of first-class matches Shahbaz Nadeem has played prior to this Test debut. He is only the 6th player to feature in more than 100 first-class matches before making Test debut for India.