"I am little disappointed" - Sunil Gavaskar takes a cheeky dig at Joe Root after his fighting ton against India

While Joe Root scored a fighting century in the ongoing fourth Test between India and England in Ranchi, his efforts were not enough to impress Sunil Gavaskar.

Opting to bat first, England were staring down the barrel after being reduced to 112 for 5 in the opening session of the Test. Openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley added 47 runs for the first wicket before debutant Akash Deep took three wickets in quick time to leave England reeling at 57 for 3. Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes departed before the lunch too to leave their team in huge trouble.

However, Joe Root stood firm and shared a century-plus stand with Ben Foakes to steady the ship for his side. Foakes departed after scoring 47 but Joe Root went on to capitalise on his start and scored a fine century. He eventually ran out of partners and remained unbeaten on 122 as England recovered from 112 for 5 to post a competitive total of 353 runs.

Sunil Gavaskar disappointed with Joe Root:

While Joe Root is receiving praise from several quarters for his fighting century against India, Sunil Gavaskar is disappointed with him. The former India captain took a cheeky dig at the England star, saying that he wanted the right-handed batsman to play the scoop shot to complete his century. Earlier in the series, the England batsman lost his wicket while playing a reverse scoop shot.

“Yes, superb innings. It was a proper Test match innings. Old-fashioned Test match innings, you would say,” Gavaskar said while doing commentary on Day 1 of the Ranchi Test.

“But I have got to say, I am a little disappointed. I am a disappointed man because I really wanted him to play a scoop shot to get to his hundred, that reverse scoop. Get to 99, play the reverse scoop, and then play the hundred, and then the crowd goes ‘Rooooot’. Particularly the box on our right (England comm box),” Gavaskar added.

Talking about the game, India were 112 for 3 at the time of writing this report. Captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed for just 2 by James Anderson before Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill added 82 runs for the second wicket. Shoaib Bashir broke the stand by dismissing Gill for 38 before sending back Rajat Patidar for 17.