While Rohit Sharma came up with a brilliant ton against South Africa on the first day of the Ranchi Test, he was well supported by vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane as the duo rescued India from an unfortunate top-order collapse. Both of them batted until the rain restricted the match and added 185 runs for the fourth wicket.

After the first day’s play, Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour heaped praises on Rahane for showing ‘great intent’.

“Ajinkya showed great intent today. Whenever he bats with this intent, he looks a really good player,” said Rathour in the post-match press conference.

Rathour also appreciated the way Rohit survived well during the initial overs of the match.

“As I said, they were bowling in good areas and there was some help in the wicket. So, as a batsman, you have to survive during that time, which Rohit did very well,” he added.

During his brilliant innings, Sharma broke the record for registering the most number of sixes in a bilateral Test series. He has now smashed 16 sixes in the entire series, surpassing West Indies' batsman Shimron Hetmyer, who had 15 sixes in the series against Bangladesh in 2018/19.

Rathour feels that Kagiso Rabada bowled on great areas which earned him two early wickets in the morning session.

“Rabada is one of the better bowlers in the world at the moment and today he showed why he is rated so high. He bowled great areas today. And that is what good batters need to do in Test cricket, you need to survive those spells,” said Rathour.

Rahane and Rohit Sharma amassed 83 and 117 runs respectively before the day was called off due to rain. India will resume their first innings on day two from 224/3.