Veteran batter Joe Root single-handedly bailed England out of trouble on the first day of the fourth Test against India on Friday, February 23 at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi. He slammed a century to help England recover from an early collapse in the first innings and entered the record books.
England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first in the test. The openers, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley started well but failed to counter Akash Deep’s brilliant bowling. England was soon reduced to 57 runs for the loss of three wickets. Joe Root tried stabilising the England innings, but wickets kept falling from the other end regularly.
Ben Foakes and Joe Root put together a 113-run stand for the sixth wicket before the former was dismissed. Root, however, kept going, and brought up the three-figure mark in the 84th over of the innings. He slammed a boundary off Akash Deep to get to the landmark. At the end of the first day’s play, Joe Root is unbeaten on 106 runs, with nine boundaries. With this hundred, he is now ranked at the top of the list for Most Test centuries against India.
A day all about this man ❤️
🇮🇳 #INDvENG 🏴 #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/H9wQ7ZSgkc
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 23, 2024
Most Test centuries against India:
Joe Root – 10 centuries in 52 innings
Steve Smith – 9 centuries in 37 innings
Gary Sobers – 8 centuries in 30 innings
Vivian Richards – 8 centuries in 41 innings
Ricky Ponting – 8 centuries in 51 innings
It was a proper Test match innings: Sunil Gavaskar lauds Joe Root
Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on Joe Root’s performance in the fourth Test against India. He helped England go past the 300-run mark on the first day of the test, at the loss of seven wickets. Root has joined an elite list, becoming the joint fourth-fastest player to reach 19,000 international runs in terms of innings played. He has got to the landmark in 444 innings, the same as Ricky Ponting.
“Yes, superb innings. It was a proper Test match innings. Old-fashioned Test match innings, you would say,” Gavaskar said during his commentary on Day 1 of the Ranchi Test.
“But I have got to say, I am a little disappointed. I am disappointed because I wanted him to play a scoop shot to get to his hundred, that reverse scoop. Get to 99, play the reverse scoop, and then play the hundred, and then the crowd goes ‘Rooooot’. Particularly the box on our right (England comm box),” Gavaskar added.
Get the latest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.
