Root grinds a priceless century for England on day 1 in Ranchi
India v England, 23rd February 2024.
England 302–7 (Joe Root 106 not out)
Retreating to bed early on Thursday evening in a middle England approaching freezing and under the fullest of moons, I awoke less than an hour later and it wasn’t only due to the madness that a full moon can often bring to a troubled mind. I’d made the twin fatal mistakes of having a short afternoon nap before listening to the “Test Match Special” podcast, and that British, dare I say, world broadcasting institution, relayed tales live and direct from Ranchi, and a wicket that was troubling and baffling everyone. Legend has it that Ranchi is a cricket ground full of runs but this wicket drew long and protracted discussions from both teams with Ben Stokes proferring that it was “interesting” and presumably with an eyebrow raised skyward in sporting befuddlement. A cricketing term such as “crazy paving” would seem to be the picture painted, an already cracked and scarred surface with an “interesting” patch of worn wicket that will trouble every batsman as well as being a racing certainty that the wicket will quickly become lower and slower, and more and more difficult to bat on as the contest enters days 3 and 4.
Act One: Akash Deep and a debut to remember
England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat. He announced two changes to his team from the mauling in Rajkot with Ollie Robinson and Shoaib Bashir replacing Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed respectively. Holding a 2–1 series lead, Indian captain Rohit Sharma confirmed the resting of talismanic fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah for the final match in Dharamshala in two weeks, with 27 year old Akash Deep his Test Match debut making replacement. England would end the opening session on 112–5 and teetering on the brink of collapse. Akash Deep had scalped 3 of the 5 wickets to fall and in an hour’s cricket he’ll never forget. But two deliveries defined the morning’s play from Ranchi, and they arrived at an England batsman almost exactly two hours apart.
The first delivery from debutant Akash Deep lifted viciously from a standard cricketing “length” to rap England opener Zak Crawley high on his gloves. It was an incredible delivery in Deep’s first over in Test Match cricket, leaving the 6 ft 6 batsman with a startled, hassled and high defensive shot. With the Lunch Break one delivery away and England 112–4, captain Ben Stokes would have seen the morning’s play as somewhat of a triumph for this team in the testing conditions. One delivery later, a ball from the spinning fingers of Ravi Jadeja simply didn’t bounce, at all, skidding along the wicket before crashing ankle height into his boot. Stokes didn’t even trouble the TV umpire and simply turned for the Pavilion, laughing, smiling and shaking his head in utter astonishment. In two hours, the Ranchi wicket had seen England’s tallest player fending off a throat high missile and their captain defeated by a “grubber” that refused to bounce.
This Test Match is already shaping up to be a humdinger!
Despite England’s solid and then accelerating start due to the imperious shot making of Zak Crawley, the session belonged to India with their debut maker Akash Deep leading the team from the field of play at Lunch. He bowled throughout the opening hour and rested at the Drinks Break with all 3 England wickets to fall to his name and it could, and so very spectacularly should, have been 4. Deep finished the first hour’s play with figures of 3–20 and within the space of 15 balls accounted for the edge snagged from the bat of Ben Duckett, the LBW decision that saw Ollie Pope fall for a 2 ball “duck” and then the cricketing “peach” of a delivery that cut Zak Crawley in half before crashing into his off stump. It was a real beauty of a delivery and an exact replica of an earlier delivery to Crawley that beat him even more comprehensively before spectacularly sending his off stump cartwheeling through the air. His “no ball” was unforgivable (as are ALL no balls) and it cost his team a further 38 runs from a reprieved Crawley, but he got his man in the end and after just an hour’s play he had 3 Test Match wickets to his name.
The second hour of the day followed the above pattern with a slowly accelerating partnership developing between Yorkshire mates of many Test Matches Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, as well as the late tumbling of wickets. Bairstow heavily outscored his county and country colleague before trying to sweep Ravi Ashwin and he was “dead” and “plumb” on live viewing let alone the TV replays and eventual referral to the TV umpire. 17 balls later, Ravi Ashwin’s spin twin Ravi Jadeja bowled a ball to Ben Stokes that necessitated the England captain wearing a Hi-Viz jacket and using a shovel rather than a cricket bat, and India had “won” the morning session.
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Act Two: Root and Foakes steady the England ship
At 5.28am I posted this Pink Floyd inspired balderdash to the wild, weird and occasionally wonderful world of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter:
“Every time Joe Root is at the crease I’m convinced today is the day he’ll cream a century. I’m clearly a hex of some kind. Is hex the right word? Fucked if I know. It’s 5.20am, I haven’t slept, it’s a full moon, and the lunatics are on the grass”.
It’s seems my use of hex was correct and far more importantly, the ex England captain was finally ready to banish the curse I’ve unwittingly placed upon him. You see, occasional match aside when life has gotten in the way, I’ve watched the entirety of Joe Root’s international career and, even if I say so myself, a firm supporter of his captaincy even after the dreadful showing in the 2021–2022 Ashes series with Australia (please see my previously published book “Ashes to Ashes” for further evidence) and for the simple fact he was England’s best player and needed to steady the team through some turbulent cricketing seas. I have been proven wholly incorrect by the Ben Stokes/Brendon McCullum axis and style of play since Root resigned as captain but he’s continued to pile on the runs to sit 10th in the all time list of most Test Match runs in the entire history of the game. 1,000 more runs will see Root jump to 5th and ahead of England’s all-time run-maker Sir Alistair Cook and I see no reason whatsoever why the 33 year old Yorkshireman can’t match 41 year old James Anderson for playing years and hence Root could go close to Sachin Tendulkar’s staggering record of 15,921 Test Match runs. All of which is for a far away future.
In the here and now or at least the afternoon session today, Root batted faultlessly for the entire session and alongside wicket-keeper batsman Ben Foakes added 86 runs in the session to take the team total to 198–5 at the Tea Break. Starting the session on 16 not out, Root scored the majority of the runs accumulated this afternoon as he first reached the Drinks Break 43 not out, his 30th Test Match 50 from 108 balls received before resting at the Tea Break undefeated on 67. Partner Foakes started the session fresh and from 0 he eased his way to 18 not out by the mid-session break before resting his bat for Tea on 28 not out.
86 runs added without the blemish of a lost wicket, England had “won” their first session of the day, and the hex upon Joe Root was soon to be banished.
Act Three: Root the Centurion as England take the honours on Day 1
Joe Root’s 31st Test Match century came via a beautiful “off-drive” that pierced the close-in Indian fielders, from a total of 218 previous balls received and after watching partners Ben Foakes (47) and Tom Hartley (13) fall to the expensive bowling of Mohammed Siraj along the way. There wasn’t any great celebration for his achievement, not a leap in the air or a guttural roar. Just a simple raising of his bat and back to the task in hand. The ex-captain entered the fray this morning with England 47–2 after losing 2 quick wickets from 3 brilliant deliveries from Indian debutant Akash Deep and, as was so often the case during his tenure as captain, he entered the field of play with his team struggling and their backs to the wall. He left the field of play today 106 not out and will be returning in the morning with Ollie Robinson already a healthy 31 not out in an unbroken partnership of 57 and England, whisper it, ahead of the game and 302–7.
Tomorrow’s first session of play is vital to this Test Match. The onus is on Root and Robinson to score the majority of the additional runs in the morning and if they can eke out another 75–100, England will have a dominant looking 1st innings total on the scoreboard. Conversely, if India can winkle out the final 3 England wickets for a handful of runs, England will still hold sway but the game will be far more evenly poised.
“Ben Stokes didn’t need a bat then, more a Hi-Viz jacket and a shovel”.
Stephen Blackford, listening to the early morning bird song in middle England before the sporting chaos resumes. A bacon sandwich and a strong brew is a distinct possibility.
So I posted to Twitter at 6.34am. 4 glorious hours later, Joe Root had his 31st Test Match century and had made rather a mockery of a wicket than can only get slower, lower and drastically more unpredictable as the game wears on.
I’d posit more batsmen than Ben Stokes will need a shovel on this wicket come the end of the weekend. Game on.