IND vs ENG, Ranchi Test: Joe Root answers critics with record ton after Indian pacers' dominant show on Day 1
'Joe Root will undoubtedly go down as England's greatest batter': Former England batter Ian Bell
The Day 1 of the Ranchi Test saw Joe Root answer his critics with the bat as the former England captain scored a record-breaking 10th Test ton against India on Friday (Feb 23). England, currently trailing 1-2 in the five-match Test series closed the Day 1 of the Ranchi Test at 302/7 with Root unbeaten on 106. Root’s ton was the highlight of the final session before Indian pacers had hit the ground with debutant Akash Deep Singh scalping three wickets.
Root back in form
After facing criticism in the first three matches of the series, Root was under pressure to perform against the hosts. The England skipper silenced his critics with his 10th Test hundred against India, the most by any batter in the longer version.
He brought his hundred in the final session in the 85th over as he broke Steve Smith’s (9) record for most hundreds against India in Test matches. Entering the contest, Root had scored 89 runs in the six innings and was taunted by Ravi Shastri for bowling more overs than runs scored in the series.
10 Joe Root (52 inngs) *
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9 Steven Smith (37)
8 Gary Sobers (30)
8 Viv Richards (41)
8 Ricky Ponting (51)
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The hundred scored in 219 ballsis also the third slowest for Root in the Test format. Only against New Zealand (259) in 2019 and against Australia (247) has Root scored a slower hundred. This was also the 33-year-old’s 31st Test ton as he now looks to build on his innings on Day 2.
Earlier, in the first session of Day 1 India’s latest debutant Akash Deep Singh scalped three wickets to reduce England to 57/3.Zak Crawley departed for 42 while Ben Duckett (11) and Ollie Pope (0) were also not in great touch.
Mohammed Siraj (60/2) was also among the wicket-takers while Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin also scalped one wicket each.
