WATCH: Rohit Sharma registers maiden half-century as Test opener; Virat Kohli celebrates

Rohit Sharma registers maiden half-century: The Indian opening batsman justified the team management’s decision to promote him.

During the first day of the first Test of the ongoing South Africa’s tour of India in Visakhapatnam, India batsman Rohit Sharma scored his maiden Test half-century as an opening batsman to provide India with a strong start in the first session.

Opening the batting with Mayank Agarwal, Sharma scored a boundary off South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada in the second over to ease his nerves. Other than getting beaten a few times with the new ball, Sharma looked comfortable for the most part of his innings.

The Indian openers scored 22 runs in the first 10 overs to get their eyes in. As and when the new ball bowlers were replaced by spinners, both Sharma and Agarwal started to press the accelerator.

On the first delivery of the 20th over, Sharma stepped out to South African spinner Keshav Maharaj to hit his first six of the innings. In the 25th over, Sharma hit another aerial shot off Dane Piedt to stamp authority on the South African bowlers.

It was on the last delivery of the 29th over when Sharma mis-timed a sweep off debutant Senuran Muthusamy to complete his half-century with a boundary. Having scored 91/0 in 30 overs, both Sharma (52) and Agarwal (39) would be looking to convert their starts into formidable innings.

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