Joe Root is England's best player - Zak Crawley in awe of batter's ton in Ranchi

England opener Zak Crawley while speaking after Day 1 of the fourth Test match stated that Joe Root’s hundred was due more than before. Root smashed his 31st Test century in the fourth Test against India and also the tenth against the Rohit Sharma-led side. The Yorkshire batsman also became the joint fourth fastest batsman to hit 19000 international runs.

Zak Crawley stated that the team is very happy for him. Crawley stated that the team never doubted him and his hundred was more than due. Crawley added that he is a phenomenal player and probably one of the best players that England have ever produced.

Zak Crawley lauds Joe Root’s hundred in the fourth Test against India

“We’re chuffed for him, to be honest,” Crawley said at the close of play. “We never doubted Joe, we just think if he gets couple of lowies, he’s even more due than before, so we fully expected him to go out and get runs in this game. He deserves everything he gets, he works so hard at his game and he always comes good.

Zak Crawley said, “He’s probably the only bloke in our team who could have done that knock; he’s that good, he’s our best player and he’s stepped up when we needed him to. We needed him to get a score, and he got a score like he’s done for so many years now. He’s just a phenomenal player, one of the best – if not the best – player we’ve ever had for England.”

Following his dismissal for a risky shot during the third Test, Joe Root came under heavy fire. He tried to reverse scoop off Jasprit Bumrah but got caught at the slip cordon. Despite his several successful attempts at this shot, observers and fans thought that he made a poor choice of shots for the innings. In the first innings of the fourth Test, Root appeared to be getting back to his usual level of play, hitting a century to put England back in the hunt.

Joe Root had only managed to score 77 runs at an average of 12.83 in six innings, but after this inning, he looked back to his previous self. Joe Root hit his century in 219 balls, one of his slowest innings, and it was just what England needed as they ended the first session struggling at 112/5.

Joe Root is currently the highest run scorer against India in Tests and achieved the milestone in the ongoing series. Root smashed a double hundred during the last India tour and was also the captain of the team. However, he had to step down as the skipper of the side due to England’s poor performance in the red ball format. The Yorkshire batsman before today had scored his last Test century in June 2023 during the Ashes series against Australia. Root is one of the most technical batsmen of the modern-day era, however, he wasn’t able to continue his technicality and was looking to play some aggressive cricket throughout the series.

England were able to put up a score of 302/7 at the end of Day 1 and Joe Root would be looking forward to converting his ton into a big score. The Indian team, on the other hand, will be focusing on bowling out England as soon as possible on Day 2.

The five-match series is currently led by India by 2-1 wherein they would look forward to winning the Ranchi Test match and also winning the series.