MANCHESTER: Joe Root was 11 off 27 at stumps on Day 2 of the fourth Test between India and England on Thursday. With England racing to 225/2 in 46 overs and only 133 runs shy of India's total, the priority for Shubman Gill and Co was to pick wickets, especially Root's.
Forgetting their horrible show with the ball only a few hours ago, India bowlers started the day positively and looked disciplined in the morning session. Unfortunately, they lacked penetration and conditions, which turned batting friendly with it being sunny, didn't help their cause either. The result? Hosts went into lunch at 332/2 with overnight batters Ollie Pope and Root completing their half-century each.
A foundation was laid. More importantly, Root was set for yet another marathon innings at one his favourite venues against his favourite opponents. He did exactly that with a sparkling century. In the process, he became the second highest run- scorer in Test history.
Since his debut in Nagpur 13 years ago, Root has been a thorn in India's flesh and Friday was no different as he piled on runs to bat the opponents out of the game. He first stitched a 144-run partnership with Pope for the third wicket and then added 142 runs for the fifth wicket with his skipper Ben Stokes before the latter had to leave due to cramps. The No. 4's continued presence slowly but surely wore the tourists down on a tiring day.
The fourth match in the ongoing five-Test series was Root's 12th against India. While his batting average is above 50 in 157 matches he has played so far, it moved beyond 60 against India. Since 2020, he, in fact, has gone a notch higher against them scoring eight hundreds with a batting average of slightly above 60.
Like India, Old Trafford too is Root's favourite hunting ground. In his 12 matches so far at the venue, he has scored 1128 runs including two centuries at an average of 70. The hundred meant he also became the first batter to score 1000 or more runs at the venue.
Given his love affair with the opponents and venue, the 34-year-old right hand Yorkshire batter looked at ease once he saw off the morning session and was scoring runs at will until that delivery from Ravindra Jadeja. It made him lunge forward only to miss the ball completely. Substitute wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel whipped off the bails with Root not even in the same postcode. But by then, England had already reached 499, securing a healthy 141-run first innings lead.
Earlier in the day, Root, who had become England's leading run scorer in Test cricket overtaking Alastair Cook in October last year, climbed three places on the all-time list en route to his hundred. He overtook Dravid (13288) when he reached 30 and then went past Kallis (13289) off the next ball with a single through cover, He then surpassed former Australia captain Ricky Ponting (13378), who was present at the venue in his capacity as a commentator, when he hit Anshul Kamboj to deep point for a single to reach 120. The century was his 38th in the format that brought him at par with former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara.
Before Root got out, England skipper Stokes walked off the field due to a hamstring injury. He was unbeaten on 66 then. Jasprit Bumrah then picked his first wicket of the match when he sent back wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith in the 125th over. It was a good length ball that seamed away from the batter but not before getting a nick, which was held by Jurel who had to dive forward. Mohammed Siraj then cleaned up Chris Woakes as the hosts lost wickets.
However, the lead was already imposing. When stumps were drawn after another sun-kissed day, Stokes & Co. led by 186 with three wickets remaining.