Zak Crawley: ‘Joe Root was due, now England are ahead of the game’

Joe Root's return to form was “even more due than before” after a string of low scores, according to teammate Zak Crawley, as his brilliant rearguard century on the opening day in Ranchi helped save England by a sticky score at lunchtime and put them “ahead of the game” in Crawley's estimation, at 302 for 7 at the close of play.

Root reached the fence on 106 from 226 balls, having compiled his 31st Test century and his first since the opening day of last summer's Ashes at Edgbaston. It was his sixth century of the so-called Bazball era, but at 219 balls he was also the slowest of all England batters during that period and the third slowest of his entire career.

The context, however, was crucial for England on a crucial day for their series hopes. After winning the toss and batting first, England's top order encountered extravagant seam movement for the new ball, especially for fast debutant, Akash Deep, who took three wickets in the space of 10 balls. Despite two counter-attacking innings from Crawley (42 off 42) and Jonny Bairstow (38 off 35), England were floundering at 112 for 5 when Stokes was trapped underweight by a Ravindra Jadeja puller on the stroke of lunch .

Thereafter, however, conditions improved throughout the afternoon and Root found the ideal ally for an old-fashioned rebuild in Ben Foakes, with whom he batted throughout the session, in a 113-run stand for the sixth wicket that spanned 44 overs. . Tom Hartley and Ollie Robinson then provided crucial support until the end, to leave England confident of their chances of bouncing back in the series, having slipped to 2-1 in Rajkot last week.

Root's celebrations after reaching his hundred speak volumes about his determination to succeed in this Test, after a previous highest score of 29 in six innings of the series to date, and after facing widespread criticism for his selection of shots in Rajkot, where his infamous reverse scoop against Jasprit Bumrah proved to be the catalyst for India's fightback with the ball.

On this occasion, he was back to the basics of his game, with a determination to bowl in the V, and barely a cross-court hit at any point in his innings.

“We're delighted for him, to be honest,” Crawley said after the match. “We never doubted Joe, we just think if he gets a few lowies he'll get even more than before, so we fully expected him to go out and score points in this game. He deserves everything he gets, he works so hard at his game and he always comes in well.

“He's probably the only guy on our team who could have made that shot; he's that good, he's our best player and he showed up when we needed him to,” Crawley added. “We needed him to score, and he scored like he's been doing for so many years now. He's just a phenomenal player, one of the best – if not the best – we've ever had for England.”

Crawley himself had been arguably England's most notable batter in the first three Tests, and although his run-a-ball innings was of a very different ilk to Root's, they did not were no less crucial in establishing a footnote to a very tricky morning at bat. He survived a huge chance in 5, when Deep snatched his stump with a no-ball, but decided to bring India's attack back afterwards, with six fours and a six for the rest of his stay.

“It was chewing hard and fast,” Crawley said. “I was trying to punch normally at first and it was too difficult. I felt like there was one with my name on it. So we had to throw a few punches back, and Johnny and I did it really well actually. Then it got easier, but it was tricky against spin for the middle-level boys, and they judged that really well. They read the situation and played amazing.”

What this means for the match situation remains unclear, given the difficulty in reading Ranchi's cracked, plate-like surface before the competition began. The impression is that the added hardness of the new ball could be crucial in making these cracks appear, while any overnight moisture in the surface could be a factor in the morning session. Crawley, however, said he stood by his assertion at the time of his dismissal that any score north of 300 would give England “a head start.

“Against sewing [was a new-ball pitch] but it became harder in relation to the spin,” he added. “The softer ball made it bounce a little more variably. For sewing it was a lot easier in the end, but I think wringing probably got harder.

“It was tricky with the pitches they were preparing, but we always talk about being present in the moment, playing the situation, and the situation required a little more caution with that kind of pitch and the variable bounce , and that's what they delivered.

“At other times we counterattacked, but they played it perfectly and read it well. It was difficult to try to pass them with that pitch, and they just knocked it down and l 'played perfectly.'