England batter Joe Root opened up about his innings in the ongoing fourth Test of the series against India in Ranchi. He said that he played according to the conditions and also admitted that he had a temptation to play reverse scoop when he was at 96.
Joe Root has put England in the commanding position in the ongoing game against India in Ranchi. Opting to bat first, the visitors were tumbling at 112/5 and it seemed that their innings would end early. But when it mattered the most, Root stepped up and changed the situation of the game.
Joe Root, who had a series of low scores under his belt, stood tall for his team and slammed a magnificent century. He batted extremely well and didn’t put a foot wrong in his innings. The batter made sure that he took his team to a decent total on the board.
Joe Root made Indian bowlers look clueless and brought up his 31st Test century in 219 balls and became the first batter in the history of the game to slam 10 Test hundreds against India. He remained unbeaten at 122 runs off 174 balls and helped his team end with 353 runs on the board.
Joe Root, who was criticized a lot for getting out on a reverse scoop in the last match, said that he thought of playing it again but it wasn’t a great option as the wicket was keeping low. He added that he was desperate to get runs for his team and he is delighted that he did that. Speaking to broadcasters, he explained:
“We had a good couple of days. That’s how I play every game really, play according to the situation and conditions (when asked if he made a conscious effort to play attritional cricket). It looks like the pitch will keep deteriorating.
“I must admit it did cross my mind (to play the reverse scoop when on 96) but it was not a great option as the wicket was keeping low, unlike the previous wicket. I was desperate to get some runs for the guys and I was happy to do that today.”
It was great to see him keep coming at the batters – Joe Root on Shoaib Bashir
Joe Root further talked about his bowling, saying that skipper Ben Stokes can use him as long as possible. He also lavished rich praise on young spinner Shoaib Bashir, saying that it was great to see him going hard at the batters. He added:
“I have used him (Stokes with the ball) a fair bit when I was captain and he can do the same with me. Seeing the two young spinners perform like that is encouraging for England cricket.
“I hadn’t seen much of him (Bashir) before this series but he is a great character and has a sense of humor, it was great to see him keep coming at the batters.”
Shoaib Bashir has helped England get in the driver’s seat in the ongoing game. The spinner has bowled tremendously well in the game and put Indian batters under pressure. He picked four wickets on Day 2 and would want to add more to his tally. At stumps on Day 2, India were 219/7 and are still trailing England by 134 runs.
