Joe Root: ‘It means the most when you really have to work for it’،
Joe Root is confident England have firmly taken control of the fourth Test against India, after a dominant second day in Ranchi in which the latter stages of his 31st Test century gave way to a bowling display determined led by the 19-year-old. off-line Shoaib Bashir.
In the end, India had reached 219 for 7 in their first innings, still trailing by 134 runs, with only wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel remaining among their recognized batters. And on a surface that already offers significant variable bounce, Root recognizes that any lead could be crucial before the end of the competition.
“We find ourselves in a good position at the end of the first innings,” Root said at the end of the match. “So we'll see how things progress throughout the match. Obviously it looks like it's going to continue to deteriorate and get worse. So if we can get three early wickets tomorrow, hopefully that will put us in a position very strong for the rest. Great game.”
However, Root's unbeaten 122 from 274 balls already appears to be the highest-scoring innings of the match. After saving England from a risky 112 for 5 at lunch on the first day, he helped add another 51 runs for the final three wickets of the morning session, and admitted it had been a cathartic display after his struggles for form in first three Tests. .
“That’s really how I try to play every game,” he said. “Trying to play with the conditions, the situation of the game. And it was very, very obvious what was needed in this situation on this surface. And fortunately, it paid off.
“It was good to contribute this week,” he added, having scored a career-best 29 in his previous six innings at Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Rajkot. It's been a lean series for me, so I was desperate to try and get some runs in for the guys, and it was good to do that today. And hopefully it can continue like that for the rest of the series now.”
Root had come under scrutiny following England's 434-run defeat in the third Test, having fallen to his reverse scoop early on the third day, a shot which proved the catalyst of the subsequent collapse of his team. And although the shot didn't appear at all during his century, he joked that he was tempted to deploy it when he was within sight of his hundred on the first evening.
“I have to admit it briefly crossed my mind, but on this wicket it's not a good option,” Root said. “It was a fleeting, selfish thought that left my mind very quickly. If you look at the previous wicket [in Rajkot], it wasn't as bad, but it was a shame that it was still a bit low. But that’s how it happens sometimes.”
Asked later about criticism of the dismissal, Root added: “Certainly the execution of the shots took a toll on me. Not necessarily the selection but the execution. I'm better than that. To beat is to outplay the opposition, score more points. to give yourself the best chance of winning. If you go out, you're out, and it doesn't matter what that looks like.
Instead, Root delivered an old-fashioned tough grafting performance, as he first found a way to survive a difficult morning period in debutant Akash Deep, who extracted an important seam move with the new ball, then conducted a critical rebuild as conditions dictated. eased off, notably alongside Ben Foakes on the first afternoon and Ollie Robinson on the second morning.
“If that’s your core skill, you want to perform and you want to be up and performing,” Root said. “It was special, considering that in the morning the wicket was doing all kinds of things against that hard ball. So when you were coming in, you really had to work hard, especially in the first half hour. They are the ones who matter the most , when you really have to work hard to achieve it and you're trying to get your team out of a little sticky situation.
The second day, however, was dominated by Bashir's remarkable performance with the ball. He bowled 32 overs, interrupted only by intervals and a solitary end change before the close of play, to return figures of 4 for 84, which are already his best figures in all of first-class cricket. With Tom Hartley also impressing with two wickets in his 19 overs, it meant Root – England's most experienced spinner – was only used for a single over at the end of the day, but he wasn't complaining to give up the stage.
“The way the guys operated today was a brilliant effort,” he said. “I had a great view from the first slip, watching them operate. For two young spinners to stand up and play, it's really encouraging for English cricket, and for us, for the rest of this series and the rest of this test match.”
Bashir was virtually unknown when he was drafted into the team in December, based on just a few matches for Somerset, including a key spell against Essex in which his high release point proved to have troubled Alastair Cook, one of the English players. the greatest sub-continental style spin players.
“[Bashir’s] brilliant,” Root said. “He's a great young boy to have in the group. I haven't seen much of him, and I might not have known much about him before this series, but he has a great character. He has a great sense of humor. He takes everything to the field. And he clearly has, as you can see, tremendous ability and skill and a lot to offer, especially on a surface like this.
“It was great to see him keep coming, again and again today, asking some really tough questions of their order. And again, he should take a lot of confidence for the rest of this match and move on .”
As for the match situation, Root reiterated his confidence that England can reduce their advantage and level the series at 2-2 ahead of the fifth Test in Dharamshala. In particular, he helped his team make the most of whatever lead they could get and bat with enough freedom in difficult conditions to make India a tough target.
On this pitch, 350 seems like a very good score,” he said. “I think we're in a good position. Obviously it would be nice to wrap it up quickly tomorrow, but yeah, as a batter you always say, 'that's a terrible wicket, I must have bowled really well'. But no, I think it's just a funny ball.
“It's just about being able to mentally park him, being able, if he behaves really badly, to not let it affect the way you approach the rest of the game, the next ball, and to don't have any demons about what happened before. You've just got to react, play and trust your game, and be very clear about how you want to break things down and score your points.
“It would be great to have a sizable lead in the first inning and then really take that lead home. We have to be ruthless. We have to be proactive about how we go about it and do it, and clearly how we want to go score our points. But if we can get anything north of 250, these last few days will be very interesting.
