Joe Root: A thorn in India’s flesh
As has happened so often in the current series, India managed to prise out the wickets of openers Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings cheaply on the opening day of the Chennai Test.
England looked to be in a spot of bother and India would have liked to make some serious inroads like they did in Mumbai. Instead, they ran into the magnificent Joe Root. Along with the mercurial Moeen Ali, the 25-year-old batted England out of trouble and into a commanding position.
While both the Indian and the English camps were kept away from any sort of practice due to the destruction caused by Cyclone Vardah, the mainstay of the English batting line-up took to the streets in order to get some much-needed practice ahead of the match.
Even the vagaries of nature seem to be unable to stop the Englishman. Little wonder then, that the Indian bowlers were unable to stop the dashing batsman from getting to yet another Test fifty.
Dream debut
Back in 2012, an adolescent looking Joe Root was drafted in for the final match of a historic series. England had bounced back in the series to take an unassailable 2-1 lead with the likes of Pietersen, Trott, Bell and Cook hitting their straps. Cook had just recently taken over as captain after the retirement of Andrew Strauss and couldn’t have asked for a more resilient display from his side. India were desperate to level the series, having received a 4-0 thrashing when they toured England the previous year.
England, choosing to bat first, found themselves in a bit of a hole at 119/4 when the debutant walked in. Soon, Pietersen was sent back leaving the youngster with only the lower order for company. A lesser player might have buckled under the pressure on a typically low and slow subcontinent track, but it was the perfect setting for the Yorkshireman to announce his arrival on the world stage.
Root partnered first with Matt Prior to add 103 and then with Graeme Swann to pile on 60 more. By the time he was dismissed, the score read 302. It was the sixth-longest debut innings for an England player at 229 balls. More importantly, from a point where England looked like they would have folded up for around 150 or 200, he propped the score up to a more than respectable 330.
At home
India next encountered Root when they toured England in 2014. As opposed to the touring side’s horrid time in 2011, this time they put up a much-improved performance, piling up 457 in the first innings thanks to Murali Vijay’s 146. After enduring a 125 run partnership for the second wicket, India soon made some inroads and the young right-hander had to walk in at 172/4. India kept picking wickets regularly and soon had England on the mat at 298/9. The visitors must have been licking their lips thinking about a 150 run lead.
Root and Stuart Broad had already frustrated the Indians with a 78 run partnership for the eighth wicket, but Anderson’s ability with the bat did not inspire any such confidence. Yet, Anderson hung on for an enterprising Test best of 81 and when he was dismissed, Root was left stranded on 154. In two matches against India until then, the then 23-year-old had accumulated 247 runs for one dismissal. Thanks to his monumental 154 not out, England played out a draw.
India fought back in the next Test at Lords, where Dhoni coaxed Ishant to bounce England out in their second innings chasing a target of 319. Even there, the phenomenal Yorkshire lad top scored with 66 while all around him fell cheaply. England won the next two Tests and the promising youngster notched up two more fifties. The hosts went into the final Test with a 2-1 score line.
The finale
On a lush green strip at the Kennington Oval, England inserted India in to bat and knocked them over in just about two sessions of play for 148. The next day, England suffered a mini collapse losing three wickets for 13 runs but once again, the talismanic batsman walked in and arrested the slide.
Looking to bat once and bat big, England had already gone past India when the Yorkshireman walked out, but no amount of superlatives could do justice to the innings that he dished out. He went absolutely berserk by his own standards. India had no answer to the assault that he launched and were wise to pick all the other wickets to leave him stranded as they had done in the first Test. This time, he remained unbeaten on 149. India conceded the match by an innings.
| Matches | Innings | Runs | High Score | Average | 100s | 50s |
| 5 | 7 | 518 | 154* | 103.60 | 2 | 3 |
Between his debut in India and India’s tour of England in 2014, Joe Root had endured a torrid time in Tests, especially on tours to Australia and New Zealand. On the tour to New Zealand, he managed only 88 runs from 5 innings at a miserable average of 17.60 and in Australia, 192 runs came at a below par 27.42 in 8 innings.
In between these series, despite a superb 180 against the Aussies in the home Ashes series, detractors began to call for his departure from the Test side. However, like all great batsmen that the game has seen, the young batting superstar let his bat do the talking.
| Matches | Innings | Runs | High Score | Average | 100s | 50s | |
| Won Toss | 8 | 14 | 787 | 149* | 65.58 | 2 | 6 |
| Lost Toss | 3 | 4 | 309 | 154* | 103.00 | 1 | 2 |
Back in India
Having lost three Test series to England on the trot, India would have been more than eager to set the record straight under the stewardship of the aggressive Virat Kohli. While India managed to do that, Joe Root did his reputation absolutely no harm, proving his status as the biggest thorn in India’s flesh. Coming off a less than satisfactory tour of Bangladesh, the English batsmen looked suspect against quality spin and were expected to be no match for India’s tweakers.
Instead, on a flat Rajkot wicket, England’s most reliable batsman made 124 gorgeous runs to put the demons of the Bangladesh tour to rest. While India did manage a draw in Rajkot and a win in the next three Tests, Root consistently stood up to the Indian spinners and proved to be one hard nut for the hosts to crack.
His consistency against India has been one of the hallmarks of his Test career so far, and going by his showing in the first innings at Chennai, he seems to be in no mood to ease off.
| Matches | Innings | Runs | High Score | Average | 100s | 50s |
| 6 | 11 | 578 | 124 | 57.80 | 1 | 5 |
In the 11 Tests he has played against India, he has managed at least a fifty in each of them. Of the three times that he has posted hundreds against India, Rajkot was the first instance where India managed to dismiss him.
While pundits have criticised his inability to go on to make a big score after getting a fifty in India, his sheer consistency at getting good scores make the same experts wax eloquent. Against India in his home country, he averages a bradmanesque 103.60 runs per innings. Detractors and critics will come in the future, but with this kind of consistent showing, young Joe has already engraved his name in the highest echelons of Test batsmanship.