Joe Root and Moeen Ali became the first England pair on the current tour to throw down the gauntlet at Indian spinners after captain Cook called correctly to end Virat Kohli’s seven consecutive wins at the toss and elected to bat.
Summoned to the middle at the fall of his captain Alastair Cook immediately after the first hour of the first Test here on Wednesday, albeit following a questionable decision handed out by New Zealand umpire Chris Gaffaney, Root got down to the business of confronting off-spinner R. Ashwin and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja with sensible stroke play.
The two spinners were already in action after the 10th over was completed by fast bowler Umesh Yadav, chosen ahead of Baroda allrounder Hardik Pandya.
Riding on Root’s individual brilliance (124) in nearly four hours and an equally determined knock from Moeen Ali, who is just a run away from his fourth Test century, England sent out a clear message to the home team that it is up for a fight.
A tremendous success at the top-order, Root has been India’s bugbear right through his 12 previous appearances against India and it was not a surprise at all to see him dominate the Indian bowlers that altogether halted India’s advance in the post lunch session.
Without doubt it was a commanding display from Root that initially steered England out of troubled waters. He built a partnership with Moeen that went beyond the three-figure mark and and eventually led him to his 11th century overall in 49 Tests and the third three-figure knock against India that ensured that his average stayed above 100.
Root, who took guard in the second ball of the 16th over, saw teenage debutant Haseeb Hameed fall to Ashwin’s ingenuity and also that of Ben Duckett caught acrobatically by Ajinkya Rahane at slip.
Jadeja won an appeal from umpire Gaffaney against Cook for the first breakthrough, after Rahane, Virat Kolhli and Murali Vijay failed to take catches.
The England captain was dropped on zero by Rahane, on one by Kohli and Hameed on 13 was given a chance by Vijay at slip, all happening within the first half an hour. The opening bursts of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav did not give much leeway except when Hameed directed Shami over the slip cordon and slashed him in the third over.
With three catches dropped, India was desperate to dismiss an England batman from the middle and after spells of 5-1-16-0 by Shami and 5-0-18-0 by Yadav.
The Indian skipper rung in the first change in the 11th over by bringing in Ashwin, who took nine overs to claim his first victim when he trapped Hameed plumb in front. Then after being struck for three boundaries by Duckett, the off-spinner had the left-hander to edge to Rahane. At lunch England’s score read as 102 for three.
Root dominated the proceedings after lunch. He made the most of fuller length deliveries from Ashwin by driving in front of the wicket with the full face of the bat. He had his slice of luck when he nicked Umesh, that found the gap between the ‘keeper and first slip and thereafter saw a ball bounce over his stumps.
At 92, Root offered India a chance to bring the Decision Review System (DRS) into play for overturning a leg before appeal off Umesh. But with the ball not appearing to crash onto the stumps or not more than half-ball appearing to hit the leg stump, umpire Kumar Dharmasena’s not out decision stayed.
But after a very focused innings when he hung on for nearly four hours and faced 180 balls, Root hit firmly back into the hands of bowler Umesh for the first clear chance. Umesh seemed to be in “control of the catch” having held the ball with both hands, but it was only after the on-field umpires referred the appeal to the third umpire that Root was given out.
The 179-run stand between Root and Moeen turned around England’s fortunes with the latter showing the temperament for four hours and more to thwart the home team.
Ben Stokes stepped out of the crease to hit a big six off Ashwin, who looked the part in his first 18-over straight spell. But with the pitch staying true for the batsmen to play shots without fear, he we went for some runs in his subsequent spells.
