While hitting the ball through extra cover and achieving his 10th century in Test matches against India and his 31st overall, Joe Root may have felt the urge to express his frustration. In the past week, he had faced a lot of criticism for England’s aggressive tactics, with some believing it had negatively affected his batting skills.

In a display of humility, Root removed his helmet and acknowledged his teammates in the dressing room 25 minutes before the end of the first day. His performance was characterized by disciplined defense, swift running, and strategic thinking, rather than showy tactics. This could be a crucial moment for England, who are currently trailing 2-1 with two matches remaining in the series.

Go back to lunchtime and it seemed like this was going to be a fast-paced match, with England taking the lead. Akash Deep, the newest Indian fast bowler from their talented team, made a strong debut with three wickets. And when Ben Stokes was declared out after being struck by a low ball from Ravindra Jadeja during the intense last over, their score of 112 for five seemed to be in trouble on the deteriorating playing field.

However, as the match came to an end, the situation had shifted. The pitch and the balance of power were no longer topics of discussion. Root had skillfully worked his way to an unbeaten score of 106, taking 219 balls to reach this milestone – making it the slowest century of the Bazball era. England, aiming to create a tiebreaker in the Himalayas, had gained a strong advantage in the match, finishing at 302 for seven after only 90 overs were bowled.

It could be noted that Root’s previous slowest century with Stokes and Brendon McCullum was in Wellington a year ago, after being dismissed by the reverse-ramp in a previous Test match. However, after a short break this past week, he refrained from using the reverse-ramp shot and instead focused on hitting only nine fours when possible. He also played cautiously and avoided using cross-batted strokes due to the unpredictable bounce of the pitch.

Some people may argue that Root’s biggest challenge on this tour, Jasprit Bumrah, was not playing in this match. However, the English fans in Ranchi will not discount the challenges that the team faced. They had to deal with Deep’s strong start, Jadeja and Ashwin’s persistent bowling, and a sudden reverse swing from Mohammed Siraj that resulted in two wickets.

Ben Foakes was among these, chipping to midwicket on 47 when starting to free his arms after tea. Nevertheless he, too, had played a key role in the pushback. For the sixth time in the past two years – and the second on tour – England’s understated wicketkeeper had been one half of a century partnership, those low-slung hands in defence helping to put on 113 with Root during a wicketless, watchful afternoon session.

Before the end of the match, Siraj knocked over Tom Hartley’s off stump and Ollie Robinson remained strong with an unbeaten score of 31 from 60 balls. It was odd that Rohit Sharma did not opt for the second new ball during this critical phase. The India captain had already used up all three reviews by this point which, in challenging conditions for the umpires, resulted in Robinson being saved from an lbw dismissal by Jadeja.

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Sharma’s initial gamble came when trying to wipe out Root for a golden duck during a harum-scarum morning, an lbw shout from Deep that struck his mark just outside the line. On a mottled surface Stokes was slightly baffled by before winning an important toss, Bumrah’s replacement had got the SG ball to talk with lavish movement – primarily into the right-handers – plus the odd lifter.

In the beginning, there was a false start when Deep bowled Zak Crawley and knocked over his off stump on seven runs. However, it was later ruled a no-ball and the wicket did not count. This has been a recurring issue for English players recently, with several debutants such as Stokes, Wood, Crane, Curran, and Mahmood experiencing the same disappointment. But soon enough, this 27-year-old from Bihar got his first official wicket.

Drawing instant comparisons with Mohammed Shami, all shoulders and tip-toed hustle as he charged in, Deep nicked off Ben Duckett with a beauty for 11 with one that nipped away from the left-hander, then pinned an advancing Ollie Pope lbw second ball on review. He eventually bowled Crawley neck and crop in this eye-catching seven-over spell, too, the opener positively jack-knifed at the crease.

Crawley was taking full advantage of his opportunity, hitting three fours in a row off Siraj and ending the seventh over with an impressive six over long-on. Unfortunately, his quick 42 runs were not indicative of the rest of the performance as Jonny Bairstow also got in on the action, scoring 38 runs off 35 balls. Bairstow, who seemed motivated by recent criticism, was dismissed lbw while attempting a sweep shot off Ashwin’s delivery, earning the spinner his 100th wicket against England.

The course of the day was influenced by another Yorkshireman who had something to prove. Root managed to stay in the game after a close lbw decision on 16, and later had a fortunate miss on 48 when the wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel failed to catch a delicate touch down the leg side (although it was counted as byes). By the end of the day, Root’s efforts had put England in a dominant position and any concerns were overshadowed by his successful reverse ramp.

Source: theguardian.com