Indian captain Rohit Sharma did not take the field on day three of the fifth and final Test match against England in Dharamsala due to a stiff back. In his place, vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah, took charge of the team.(Day 3 Blog | Scorecard | Cricket News)
Rohit has had a great outing with the bat at the back end of the series, that include three tons in his last three Tests. The captain was the catalyst in India steamrolling the tourists and taking advantage in the fifth Test, wherein he brought up his 12th Test ton and 10th at home. Him along with Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal were instrumental in India taking a 259-run lead.
Rohit's partnerships with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Gill, tormented the English bowlers in Dharamsala. Jaiswal made 57 as the southpaw crossed over 700 runs in the series. Gill recorded his fourth Test ton of his career.
Earlier, India inched closer towards an innings victory as they reduced England to 103 for 5 at lunch on day three of the fifth and final Test on Saturday.
Playing his 100th Test, senior India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin snared four top-order wickets, giving away 55 runs. Kuldeep Yadav (1/9) picked one.
Joe Root was in the middle when lunch was taken after Ashwin bowled rival skipper Ben Stokes. England still trail India by 156 runs.
Veteran England seamer Jimmy Anderson became the first pacer in the history of Test cricket to take 700 wickets when he dismissed Kuldeep.
Resuming from the overnight score of 473/8, India were all out within 20 minutes of play, adding only four runs to the total. India lead the series 3-1.
(With PTI inputs)
