England skipper Joe Root is confident of carrying his good form in the remainder of the Test series against India after scoring a hundred in the first Test match at Nottingham.
Root was England’s best batsman in the opening Test as he scored a total of 173 runs in the match.
Root batted at the top of his game in the first innings as he scored 64 runs and he was the only English batsman to breach the 50-run mark. However, Root was dismissed by Shardul Thakur who plumbed him in front of the wickets as England were dismissed for 183 runs in the first innings after the hosts won the toss.
Subsequently, India were able to get a crucial lead of 95 runs as they posted a score of 278 runs after KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja scored 84 and 56 runs respectively.
Thus, England were under pressure as India had put their noses ahead after taking a first innings lead. However, Joe Root was able to hit the ground running and played a fine knock of 109 runs. Root scored at a good pace and drove miraculously through the off-side as he timed the ball to perfection.
There is no doubt that Root is England’s best batsman and he was able to take the onus on his shoulders. However, he didn’t receive a lot of support from other England batsmen.
“Now, at the start of the year, you look at how the year is likely to pan out and beforehand try and plan your breaks within that. I obviously missed the 50-overs series in India and that was an opportunity for me to have a break. I am not in the IPL currently, so again that was another area which I got time at home,” Joe Root said.
“So I feel like I have managed to have those breaks and be ready for the Test series that we’ve got and all that we’ve coming up. So in terms of me, I feel fine, I feel ready, I feel in a good place, obviously feel great on the back of those scores from last week. So, very much looking forward to getting back out there again on Thursday,” Root added in the pre-match media interaction.
The second Test match will be played at Lord’s from August 12 and Root will look to continue his good form.
