Staggered India didn't make Joe Root hit down the ground: Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan has joined a host of pundits and former cricketers to express surprise at India's bowling plans against England captain Joe Root in the 2nd Test at Lord's. Vaughan said it was 'staggering' how the visitors bowled to Root's strengths without luring him to play down the ground.
Joe Root, for the second time in the series, brought England back into the game from a difficult position. The right-hander hit a 321-ball 180 and remained unbeaten to give the hosts a 27-run lead over India in the first innings. His strong back-foot play was evident throughout the knock as almost all of his 18 boundaries came on square of the wicket.
In an interaction with Cricbuzz after the day's play, Michael Vaughan said:
"When he gets into this kind of form, he makes batting look so easy. When you are up against the likes of Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, Sharma and Jadeja, who are all magnificent Test match bowlers, he just makes it look so simple. The way he's playing it so late and maneuvering the ball into the gap square of the wicket, it's the way he plays. I am staggered that India haven't gone like, 'Okay, we are going to open up mid-off and mid-on, we are going to try and nullify the square of the wicket and get him to hit it down the ground'."
The former England captain expounded:
"If you play down the ground and you get it slightly wrong, you know, you look at Jos Buttler, trying to do that, the ball seamed, went through the game and the off-stump went flying... I think India will probably have to find a way of potentially asking Joe Root some different questions because so far in this series, he's been too good for them."
"Purists will be delighted to see KL Rahul and Joe Root bat" - Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan further compared the batting styles of both KL Rahul and Joe Root, saying they have played exactly how purists envision Test batting.
"It's (Joe Root's knock) is very similar to the way KL Rahul played. It has been a week where I think the purists will be delighted because KL Rahul and Joe Root have played exactly how Test cricket should be played," Michael Vaughan signed off.
India will start their 2nd innings with a deficit of 27 runs. They will look to bat the whole day and set England a competitive total for Day 5