India captain Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja hit centuries to put hosts on top in the third Test, but Mark Wood claims three wickets and a run-out to give England hope on hard-fought opening day in Rajkot

It had echoes of Geoff Boycott running out of Derek Randall at Trent Bridge in 1977, but this time it was the local hero who lived to fight another day.

Certainly, Ravindra Jadeja had cut short a promising debut innings on Sarfaraz Khan’s debut in his prime when he initially set out for, but then abruptly changed his mind, the single that would see him complete another century on his home turf Rajkot ground have delivered. .

That gave Mark Wood the chance to complete a hugely impressive day of his own, throwing down the stumps as Sarfaraz was stranded after a brutal 62 off 66 balls, adding to the earlier three wickets that kept England in the third Test hunt.

Not that a run-out largely due to the returning Jadeja deterred him as he quite shamelessly marked the second hundred of the first day to join his captain Rohit Sharma on three figures with his trademark twirling sword celebration.

And that gave Jimmy Anderson, who previously dated Jadeja back to their own Trent Bridge clash in 2011, the chance to make good on his judgement, apparently telling Jadeja: ‘You just sold your mate down the river, that can’t be . celebrate that.’ To touch.

When Wood celebrated Sarfaraz’s run-out as if he had won a World Cup final, he was praising the big wicket of a hard-fought day as if it had just secured this entire series.

Ben Stokes, desperately trying to avoid attention in his 100th Test appearance, had bagged a simple catch at mid-wicket and all the toil Wood had put into a spell of short bowling on a miserable delivery had finally led to the vital scalp of Sharma.

How Wood deserved to add India captaincy to two previous casualties on his return to the side and how England had to back him up after a stand of 204 for the fourth wicket with Jadeja rescuing India from a dangerous first morning position.

Wood had gone wicketless and looked ill-suited to the role of any seamer in England’s comeback win in Hyderabad, and had spent the second Test on the Visakhapatnam sidelines brooding over how well Jasprit Bumrah had bowled.

Now England had returned to a better balanced side, throwing the new ball to a bowler who was generally much more comfortable with an old one, as he became their most important player.

“On these types of pitches you need a point of difference,” said England assistant coach Paul Collingwood. “Woody works tirelessly for this team and he always does it with a smile on his face. The best wicket today was the run out. He was devastated by that.’

Wood’s exploits were not enough to put England top, with India finishing on 362 for five, but they were a precious reward for another heartfelt performance from the indefatigable Wood in the most demanding of conditions.

Sharma was blessed with considerable luck as he reached 131 when he overshot an attempted shot off Wood and saw the ball gently lobbed towards Stokes.

It ended the India captain’s 11th and best-timed Test century, nine at home, just as the pressure had mounted on Sharma after he took charge of the team that lost their ‘home’ World Cup final and then scored a goal. boring start to this series.

But by that stage things could have been so much better for an England side that started like a dream after losing an important toss on a pitch that lived up to pre-match expectations of being flat as a pancake and hardly conducive for enterprising cricket.

Not that there wasn’t some early seaming and spin due to moisture beneath the surface, which England quickly took advantage of as Wood took two wickets in six balls and Tom Hartley continued the impressive start to his Test career with a third.

Yashashvi Jaiswal had looked supreme against the English spin as he made a double hundred in the second Test, but not so convincingly against Jimmy Anderson and now the left-hander only parried straight the second ball he had faced from Wood.

The world’s fastest bowler added the second of his first new ball wickets for England since 2015 when Shubman Gill, struggling against the extra pace, pushed Wood through to Ben Foakes on his 31st birthday.

When Hartley curled one away from Rajat Patidar and saw him guiding, they were tame to cover India, were 33 for three and looked desperately vulnerable, especially with two debutants in Sarfaraz and keeper Dhruv Jurel on the way.

Had Joe Root taken the risk of diving to his left at slip when Sharma could only avoid Hartley’s attempted drive on 27, India would have been in deep trouble at 47 for four. As it turns out, this was the first of many “what if” moments.

Sharma was given out by Joel Wilson off Jimmy Anderson on 29, but TV referee Rod Tucker spotted an inside edge on the move. Then, on 49, another mighty close lbw went in Sharma’s favor as it turned out that Kumar Dharmasena’s not-out was the umpire’s decision.

England has not done itself any favours. When Sharma was on 87, he missed a sweep to Rehan Ahmed, but Stokes opted not to review as he believed the ball had brushed the Indian captain’s glove. The technology showed that this was almost certainly not the case.

Their reluctance to turn to technology cost England a second time when the otherwise flawless Jadeja, promoted to No. 5 after overcoming the hamstring injury that threatened to end his run, was hit in front by Hartley on 93. Once again, referee Dharmasena ruled no out but again HawkEye showed three red tones on repeat.

That happened during a stand of 77 where the burly Sarfaraz finished only because of Jadeja’s Boycott moment and the all-rounder was still on 110 at the end. England may be behind, but thanks to Wood and Jadeja’s disastrous leadership, they are certainly not out .