It is always mini-battles within a battle that makes a huge difference in the outcome of a Test match. India’s gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is currently winning one against England’s premier batter – Joe Root. Bumrah has dismissed Root on two occasions in the four innings of first two Test matches of the ongoing series between the two countries.
Bumrah had Root caught at slip in the first innings at Vizag and former England skipper Nasser Hussain feels England’s number four just does not know which way the ball will go after pitching. Bumrah has also dismissed Root on four occasions in white-ball format.
Root has thus far scored only 52 runs in two Test matches against India at an average of 13 and he hasn’t been at his best.
“Once a bowler’s got one over on you it’s a mental thing as much as a technical thing. You know what’s coming and unless Bumrah gets injured, or Root’s own finger is a problem, it’s coming for six more innings. Root has always found a way to counter his biggest challenges and right now it is Bumrah,” wrote Hussain for Daily Mail.
“As a five-match Test series progresses, individual battles are created along the way and particularly if the ball is reverse swinging, you can bet India captain Rohit Sharma will get Bumrah on to him. Root just does not know which way it’s going at the moment,” he added.
Meanwhile, Root was dismissed while trying to play a big slog but ended up holing out to backward point, Axar Patel on the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin. Root took an aggressive approach from the get-go but the strategy didn’t work on the penultimate day.
“The narrative will be that Bazball doesn’t work for him, when actually one look at the raw statistics tells you otherwise. His numbers are actually superior in this period than previously in his career. A similar discussion began in New Zealand a year ago when he tried to reverse sweep Neil Wagner, and re-directed the ball to slip,” said Hussain.
The third Test match between India and England will be played at Rajkot from 15th February onwards.
