Rohit hits fifty as India make solid start against South Africa

Rohit Sharma made a solid beginning as India's new test opener and gave the hosts a strong start along with partner Mayank Agarwal in the opening match of the three-test series against South Africa at Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.

Rohit and Agarwal kept South Africa's bowlers at bay in the first session to take India to 91 for no loss after home captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat.

Rohit was unbeaten on 52 with Agarwal 39 not out at the break.

Rohit has built a formidable reputation as a limited-overs opener but batted in the middle order in his stop-start test career.

The 32-year-old could not have hoped for a more benign pitch to begin his journey as a test opener with both the fast bowlers and spinners from South Africa failing to make any impact.

Visiting pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander beat the bat on a few occasions with the new ball and those were the only moments of discomfort that the right-handed batting pair faced.

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis introduced spin in the ninth over in the form of Keshav Maharaj but it only allowed the Indian batsmen to score more freely.

Rohit brought up his 11th test half-century with a nervous boundary off debutant Senuran Muthusamy with the top edge from a lap-sweep narrowly missing the leaping fielder at fine leg.

Both teams went with two frontline fast bowlers with the pitch expected to offer turn for the spinners later on. 

- Reuters