"Jasprit Bumrah seems to have his number"- Michael Vaughan on why Joe Root's decline against spin is concerning ahead of 3rd IND vs ENG Test
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has expressed his concern over Joe Root's declining numbers against spin in Test cricket and also the star batter's negative match-up against Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah.
Root has been dismissed a staggering eight times by Bumrah, making Vaughan believe that India would try to bring on the pacer almost every time the England batter walks out to bat.
Vaughan had recently received a bit of backlash on his article about why he wanted Root to bat traditionally. While he understood that Root had a better average against pace playing the 'Bazball' way, the drop-off against spin was alarming.
In his column for The Telegraph, Vaughan explained why Root needed to bat just like he used to in the pre-Bazball era against spin.
"The trouble in India is that Jasprit Bumrah seems to have his (Root) number, having dismissed him eight times in Tests. That means that he’s got a problem with the only seamer who will bowl much to him, and with his method against spin," he wrote.
Root's average against spin dropped from 80.5 (from the 2019 summer to his final Test series as captain) to 34.5 under the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum management.
Vaughan also claimed that Root was getting dismissed to spin once every 132 balls in the aforementioned period before Bazball, and that has dropped down to once every 42 balls in the new regime.
England need Joe Root to score a couple of big hundreds, says Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan believes that while the rest of the England batting may continue to back their ultra-aggressive brand of cricket, Joe Root should be the fulcrum of the middle order and should be willing to dig deep and bat for long periods.
"That means going back to what made him such a brilliant player against spin. They need their rock at No 4 to peel off a couple of big hundreds, to bat all day. He will score at a good lick that way anyway. Root is the anomaly in this team for that reason. He’s their beautiful classic car, surrounded by souped-up sports cars," Vaughan elaborated.
Root has scored just 52 runs in the four innings in the ongoing Test series so far. His dismissal against Ravichandran Ashwin in the second Test attracted a lot of scrutiny.
It will be interesting to see if the former England captain recalibrates his game with the third Test to be played in Rajkot from Thursday, February 15.