Alastair Cook likens Joe Root to India captain Rohit Sharma for this reason

Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook who stands as the last foreign captain to register a red-ball series win on Indian soil back in 2012, likened England’s number 4 batter Joe Root to Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for having a pure touch of class and ability to negotiate well against spin after the former smacked a welcome back century on day 1 of the 4th Test in Ranchi’s JSCA stadium.

This was Joe Root’s first century of this series and perhaps it was the first time that he played like himself in the 5-match Test series. The right-hand batter came to India as the most experienced batter in the team but batted like the most in-experienced entity across the last three Tests in Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam, and Rajkot.

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When Joe Root was heading back to the English dressing room after scoring that tremendous 106 off 226 balls, helping the visitors set up 302 on day 1, there were nothing but claps and smiles of recognition from all his teammates. His captain Ben Stokes in particular was delighted to see the former captain get back to his best and display a probably match-winning knock in the 1st innings.

Before this, Root was getting out by playing some very stupid and unconventional shots like the reverse sweep, paddle sweep, etc. Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj who is leading from the front in the 4th Test, while speaking to Aakash Chopra earlier this morning, stated that they would have got Root’s wicket had he played those unusual shots before applauding the batter for playing out a much-needed triple figure knock.

This was Joe Root’s 31st Test ton and his 10th against India which included 9 fours. Even though India’s debutant Akash Deep had a wonderful outing yesterday, registering figures of 3/70 from 17 overs, Root’s masterclass meant that most of the sessions on the first morning remained in favor of the visiting contingent.

“He has all the options covered”, Cook opines on Joe Root’s comeback knock

Alastair Cook who was the captain of the England team when Joe Root made his debut in India in 2012, appreciated the Yorkshire-born batter for choosing to get back to his basics and claimed that it was just a matter of time before he got back to his scoring ways.

Cook while speaking to TNT Sports yesterday, noted that it was a vintage knock from Root and also drew comparison with Rohit Sharma who had also scored a comeback century in the 3rd Test, for their similarity in terms of class and having all the options covered against spin.

“When you see someone go through a little trouble, it’s always great to see them out the other end. When great players don’t score runs it’s only a matter of time until they do. Slightly slower than normal but the tempo and his rhythm of batting is what makes him stand out.” – Cook said via TNT Sports. 

“When he’s in fine flow he’s got such a nice easy way about him, Rohit- like. Pure and utter class, great player of spin and he has all the options covered.” – Alastair Cook concluded.