Rohit Sharma shattered tons of records on his debut

It was a dream Test debut for Rohit Sharma. Having made his debut for India in the shorter form of the game six years back, Rohit had to endure a long wait for his Test debut. He came very close to wearing the India Test cap, but as luck would have it did not get it.

In fact Rohit would have made his Test debut against South Africa at Nagpur in February 2010 itself, but twisted his ankle on the morning of the Test and Bengal’s wicketkeeper-batsman Wridhiman Saha made his debut as a specialist batsman as no one else was available to take Rohit’s place.

When he finally got his chance, Rohit grabbed it with both hands and ensured there is no looking back now. Coming in to bat with India reeling at 82 for four (soon it became 83 for five), he made the most of his chances. But Rohit had been in sublime form having scored a double century in ODIs in his previous outing.

Only 13 Indians had accomplished the feat of scoring a century on Test debut before Rohit and only four of them had done so batting at number six or lower in the order. Soon Rohit also joined this exclusive club. In doing so he became the first Indian to score a century on Test debut against West Indies.

After putting to shade Suresh Raina’s record of highest score by an Indian debutante at number six, Rohit established an all-time record at this position by a debutante. But just when he looked set for a double ton, Rohit’s innings was cut short. His 177 is the second highest score by an Indian in his first Test innings after Shikhar Dhawan’s 187 against Australia at Mohali earlier this year and seventh highest individual score by a player batting for the first time in Test cricket.

Indian batsmen scoring a hundred on Test debut

Highest scores in their first Test innings

Highest individual scores at # 6 on Test debut

Highest individual scores at # 6 on Test debut by Indians

Rohit was involved in a 280-run partnership for the seventh wicket with R Ashwin. This is the second highest partnership involving an Indian debutant. The details: Indian batsmen involved in a double century partnership on debut  

With India winning the Test by an innings and 51 runs, Rohit now has the distinction of featuring in an innings win on Test debut. Only a handful of Indians have accomplished this feat. Mohammed Shami also appears in this short list:

Indian players part of an innings win on Test debut

It will not be out of context to mention that Rohit made his Test debut after having appeared in 108 one-day internationals. He thus became the first player ever to make his Test debut after appearing in more than 100 one-day internationals. Rohit wrested the record from fellow team-mate Suresh Raina, who had appeared in 98 ODIs before making his Test debut (vs Sri Lanka in 2010).

Most ODIs before playing a Test