England’s skipper Joe Root led his team from the front by scoring a Hundred on Day Four of the first test match against England. On the back of his knock, England set India a target of 209 in the fourth innings.
Speaking to Sony Sports, Joe Root termed his 172-ball 109 runs knock as one of his best. He said,
“I certainly enjoyed it. Was very special, enjoyed playing in front of a crowd, the atmosphere was unbelievable. It was a nice feeling, lots of relief, I had a nervy 5-10 before that and nearly got myself out. In terms of the way I played, against a very good attack, this was one of my best innings.”
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The England skipper said that going in with a fearless attitude helped him to counter the Indian bowling attack. Root took on the Indian bowlers, his strike rate in the innings was 63.37.
“I thought my feet moved well, and I went in with a fearless attitude. It was important to take on the bowlers without taking any risks. You can’t be scared about getting that one ball with your name on it,” Root said.
The pressure is on India to score runs: Joe Root
Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar will resume the Indian inning on day five at 52/1. India needs 157 runs more to gain a 1-0 lead in the five-match test series. Joe Root stated that the England bowling attack needs to be consistent with their line and length to make the chase difficult for India. He said,
“We’ll need to make it as hard as possible (on the 209 chases), take all the catches, the trend in this game is that it’s difficult to get a start, you can get 2 or 3 wickets quickly.”
“One thing in our favor is that the pressure is on them to score the runs. With plenty of help still available, it’s still an even contest. We did have a couple of chances that were created last night but didn’t go to hand, we need to be consistent in our line and lengths. This is cricket, you don’t get the ebbs and flow like this in any other sport and that’s what you enjoy about this game,” Root concluded.
