It was a day when Joe Root made everybody on the field realise that he was in a different zone, league and class. He showed he was better even than the heroes they grew up worshipping. Root’s 248-ball 150 saw him climb over Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting to be on the Test batting podium. He now has silver while Kallis’s bronze has been transferred to Ponting.
The 34-year-old modern-day batting master is now second only to Sachin Tendulkar, who has 15921 runs. Root — eventually stumped off Ravindra Jadeja — took his run tally to 13,409, which is around the sum total of India’s entire playing XI in this Test.
Root hasn’t scored the most runs in this series but probably managed to pull off the most important ones. This was the most vital moment of this closely fought series. England needed a win here to seal the series and there came a window of opportunity. He started the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with an unbeaten half-century that guided the team during the impossible chase, he scored a ton at Lord’s to level the series and he would save his best to possibly take England home.
On the third day of the fourth Test, India were on the ropes but still they showed a spark of life in them. Out came the smiling old champion, gloves hanging from his hands to deliver the knockout punch. Root’s hundred killed the contest, ending the suspense of the thrilling series. The India-England Test battle had been close, now it is as good as closed. England, who ended Day 3 at 544/7 are 186 runs ahead of India with two days to go. India has a mountain to climb and their troops look tired, jaded, spent and defeated.
At the start of the day, the Indian team seemed to be driven, possibly the motivational talk in the team huddle still ringing in their ears. After the forgettable showing on Day 2, easily the worst day for the team on this tour, words would have been said to regroup and put all hands on deck. In the early hours today, India was a charged team. Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah were running in hard. They looked tired but fired to give that one final push.
From scoring over 5 per over last evening, there was a sharp fall in the run-rate. Root and Pope had downed the shutters and were waiting for the last flicker of the flame to die. Root would lead the way, Pope would follow. The England No.4 is not a batsman with an ego. Earlier in the series when Bumrah, who has taken his wicket many times, was on fire; Root would avoid playing him. He is skillful, like many other batsmen, but smart too. He waited for the bowlers to make mistakes and he would punish them.
Bumrah’s first spell of the day read 5-1-17-0 – it’s not that he was breathing fire and just unlucky not to get a wicket but it was because the batsmen were eager to wait. Newcomer Anshul Kamboj, who was having a nightmarish game, was next to bowl. It was wise to hold back the fire. There was Ravindra Jadeja too. The left-arm spinner hasn’t quite enhanced his image as a wicket-taker on foreign pitches on this England tour. In the three Tests before Old Trafford, he has taken 4 wickets for 431 runs.
Story continues below this ad
England’s Joe Root acknowledges fans as he walks off the field after losing his wicket on the third day of the fourth cricket Test at Old Trafford, Manchester. (AP Photo)
All too easy
Root and Pope would keep knocking the ball to mid-on or mid-off for singles and be watchful when the ball would turn a shade. Root would keep his eyes on the ball and play it late to guide it to square. This was looking all too easy for England. Mysteriously, the entry of Washington Sundar on the scoreboard was much delayed. He was introduced in the 68th over of the Test. By lunch, Root and Pope had taken England close to India’s score, the next two sessions were about building the lead.
Pope would get out to Sundar, beaten by the drift, and so would Harry Brook but Root was there, he knew the importance of not losing the grip on this Test. The post-lunch enthusiasm of taking quick wickets in the Indian camp too needed to be nipped in the bud. England couldn’t have had better men than Root and Ben Stokes.
In between his solid play, Root would step out to Kamboj and hit him straight out of the boundary. Against Jadeja, bowling to a heavy off-side field, he would sweep and get four on the leg side. The lead was climbing, Indian tempo was flailing and bowlers were also dropping. Siraj would walk into the dressing room with the physio in tow. On a day of many misfortunes, Bumrah would twist his ankle while climbing the dressing room stairs. Both Siraj and Bumrah would return and bowl but they seemed to be going through the motions.
India might want to wipe out the memory of this day as early as possible, but for England, this was a glorious day. There is a lesson for India, and their skipper Shubman Gill, from the Root story.
Story continues below this ad
Growing up Root was the chosen one, like Shubman. Born in a cricket-obsessed family, the Yorkshire boy’s batting was honed because of the hours of training since he was around 8. Even as a junior, he would hit thousands of balls, like the kid in a Punjab border village. He was soft-spoken but would have a strong voice in the dressing room. A batsman destined to play for England, and the next England captain.
Root would get captaincy when he was 26, Shubman a year earlier. Root in his long career has seen slumps and really bad days and worse ones too that would see him lose his captaincy. The Indian captain, too, had a bad day today but he too can aspire to have a Root kind of podium climbing.
