Why Joe Root Has To Absolutely Get Going For England Vs India

The England cricket team that is currently playing in India has a bit of an interesting scenario, even if it also somewhat troublesome. On the one hand, they are rather fortunate to have a rising batsman in the form of Ollie Pope whose batting brilliance in the opening Test of the series produced 196 brilliant runs, thus paving the way for a famous victory.

But on the other hand, they have batting greats who need little introduction in the form of Ben Stokes, Jonny Barstow and Joe Root.

And while all of this looks like a rosy scenario, in reality it is anything but; so far, neither among the famous troika of Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow has gotten going.

While Pope rescued them from a tricky situation in the first Test and ensured a big win only for Bumrah to emerge as the antithesis for England in the very next game, there is one bat witnessing the ensuing events that has kept quiet all along.

And it belongs to an unbelievable champion of the game who usually plays without much botheration or worry.

Maybe time has come for a certain Joseph Edward Root to get going and bring about a huge score that could really revive England’s chances after the visitors threw it all away most recently despite having the opening Test in the bag.

But before one could dwell any further, it is important to recollect just what Joe Root has mustered thus far:

Quite frankly, there hasn’t been much at all that England’s classic Test match batsman and someone counted among their all-time batting greats has managed thus far.

Why is that?

With scores of 5 and 16, 29 and 2 from the two previous Tests, Joe Root’s lack of runs has perhaps been one of the root causes of England’s ongoing troubles in India.

And while it’s not that nothing is going their way, remember Zak Crawley scored vital fifties in each of the innings at Vizag, their batsmen looked pale and unable to counter Jasprit Bumrah as seen recently.

What Joe Root, someone who has nearly 11,500 Test match runs to his name, would do well to remember is that he is playing in a land where he has previously excelled and rather considerably.

The batsman who created a mountain of Test runs in 2021, 1708 of them, last played a series in India prior to this one in 2021.

Two years back in the day, Joe Root fired the opening salvo as England’s captain wherein he led from the front and amassed a brilliant 218 at the MA Chidambaram stadium.

There are captains who score lots of runs. There are captains who score timely runs. But it is only a few who lead by an example and score big runs without wasting anytime whatsoever; lest it is forgotten, Root had led England to a massive 221-run victory in their opening Test in Chennai back then.

Surely, he struggled in the games that followed just like he is struggling at the moment, but that monster hundred, despite being a solo heroic effort was enough to thwart any chances of India’s dominance.

Just the kind of effort that Root, who so far hasn’t even crossed the thirties in any of his four innings, would need in what’s to follow.

And must he not forget that what is to follow could well be another challenging day in the park for England in the third Test with an in-form Jasprit Bumrah all set and ready to go.