LANDMARK TON FOR HUNGRY JOE
‘Selfish’ skipper Root celebrates 100th Test with glorious century
Even virat Kohli seemed pleased Joe Root had marked his 100th Test in the best way possible to get england off to a near perfect start in their Indian mission improbable.
There he was, the ultra-competitive India captain, rushing to the aid of his stricken opposite number towards the end of a long, hot first day of the opening Test and smiling as he administered his own treatment for cramp.
not even Kohli, it seemed, could begrudge Root becoming only the third englishman after Colin Cowdrey and Alec Stewart to make a hundred in his landmark Test, even if his third ton in successive games came at the expense of a ragged India.
Kohli can clearly recognise greatness when he sees it, for that is what Root has produced in his extraordinary start to the year, passing 500 Test runs already in 2021 as he reached the close on a quite brilliant, unbeaten 128.
What an effort this was from Root at the start of this seismic series and how spectacular his batting has been since he pressed the reset button after failing to make a century last year.
If this is what a ‘selfish’ Root, as he now describes himself, is capable of then he should eschew selflessness for the rest of his career and carry on leading england by the most sublime single-minded example.
This was better than his two big, series-winning centuries in Sri Lanka — simply because it came against the best team in the world in conditions where they so rarely lose and when the spotlight was shining on Root fiercely. He even looked a little nervous when he came out to bat after england had lost two quick wickets just before lunch to stand perilously poised on 63 for two on the flattest of Chennai pitches.
There was a leading edge off Ravichandran Ashwin that dropped to safety in the covers and a crazy single in the over before the interval that saw Root scrambling to make his ground. Then, on 45, he edged Ishant Sharma just short of keeper Rishabh Pant as India looked to press home their advantage.
If India could have made a third breakthrough, england would have been in trouble, but Root and Dom Sibley rode their luck, stood firm and then became gloriously dominant in a stand of 200 broken only at the very end of an absorbing day.
What a shame for england that Sibley was trapped in front by the excellent Jasprit Bumrah, wasting a review in the process, with just three scheduled balls of the day remaining and 13 short of his third Test century.
But how well Sibley played in showing again that he always finds a way to score runs, overcoming a far tougher examination than he faced in Sri Lanka and proving that his quirky method can thrive against top-quality spin.
It was after his third failure against the left-arm spin of Sri Lanka’s Lasith embuldeniya that Sibley confessed himself to be ‘in a dark place’, doubting whether he could crack it in the harshest of Test environments.
Then, as he battled to make sure it wasn’t four out of four, Sibley was picked up by stump microphones telling keeper niroshan Dickwella that he didn’t know if he would be playing in India because ‘I haven’t had a very good series’.
How important, then, his fifty in england’s successful second Test run chase in Sri Lanka was and how he can look forward now to a lengthy run after probably the best innings of his career.
Sibley and new father Rory Burns, sporting a spectacular long lockdown hairstyle, made a positive start to the resumption of their partnership, even though Burns could have been caught by Pant off the first ball delivered in a home Test by Bumrah.
Burns looked as if he had never been away until he gifted his wicket to Ashwin, gloving an attempted reverse sweep and continuing his habit of concentration lapses when set.
It was a surprise to see Dan Lawrence emerging at three in the absence of Zak Crawley, ruled out of the first two Tests after spraining a wrist, because he has not batted that high for essex in four years. Indeed, Lawrence mustered just 44 runs in his last six innings in the top three for his county, something that Chris Silverwood would surely be aware of as his former essex coach.
Better to have asked Ben Stokes to bat at three in the absence of Jonny Bairstow, or Ollie Pope, who england seem reluctant to move any higher than five. Still, perhaps it is better to bat as high as possible in India before the ball starts turning and Lawrence will have been disappointed to waste his chance when he played across Bumrah for a five-ball duck.
That heaped even more pressure on Root, who had been presented with a silver cap by head selector ed Smith and then his 100th cap by his close friend Stokes. How Root responded after smiling through his uncertain start while
India became sloppy, bowling 11 no balls and fumbling in the field.
Thanks to another Herculean effort from Root, who slog swept Ashwin for six before falling to the ground in exhaustion with that attack of cramp, england were on top on 263 for three at the end of the first day.
But they knew they had much work to do today. england made 477 on their last visit to Chennai four years ago before conceding 759 for seven declared and losing by an innings and 75 runs. That defeat led to the resignation of Alastair Cook and ushered in the Root era that now looks stronger than ever. Yesterday was the strongest of starts to the toughest examination yet of his reign.