Former England captain Michael Vaughan has expressed his displeasure at the way Joe Root has gone about his batting in the ongoing Test series against India.
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The five-match Test series stands level at 1-1 after two games. While England came from behind in Hyderabad to script a memorable victory, India came out on top in Visakhapatnam.
Over the course of the two Tests, the English batters have managed to find unique ways to score runs against a high-quality Indian spin attack. However, one batter who hasn’t got going so far, has been their most experienced one – Joe Root.
From two Tests, Root averages 13 in the series with a high score of 29. In trying to conform to England’s naturally ultra-aggressive style of play, Root has not been able to get himself set. His dismissal in the second innings of the Vizag Test match, an ugly hoick across the line off R Ashwin, has come in for severe criticism from all quarters, including from Vaughan.
In a column for The Telegraph, Vaughan wrote that Root should abandon the Bazball philosophy and try to assume his usual self: “The batsmen, meanwhile, look like they only have one way to play. They are in fifth gear from ball one. I don’t mind some of them playing like that because they are better for it. But Joe Root should forget it.
“He has 10,000 Test runs playing like Joe Root. He doesn’t need to be a Bazballer. It is time for someone in the management to put an arm around Joe and say ‘please just be yourself’. I think it’s as simple as the fact that he is too wrapped up in Bazball, the whole ethos of excitement and entertainment.”
Vaughan emphasised that Root’s strength against spin has been his ability to pick length and use the depths of his crease, instead of stepping out and hitting over the top, something which he has tried to do in this series.
“This is particularly important against spin. Along with Graham Gooch, Root is the best player of spin England has ever produced. To see him bat the way he did in the second innings, that’s not Root, and it’s not the way England are going to win in India, just gifting wickets away.
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“What’s most frustrating is that he doesn’t dance down the pitch. It’s just not a shot he plays. The fact that at Edgbaston last summer, when he did it to Nathan Lyon, was the only time he’s been stumped in his whole Test career gives you an indication that he plays from his crease.
“He uses the depth of the crease. He picks up length better than anyone else, going right back onto his stumps. When it’s full, he goes right forward. The way he played on the last tour in India and Sri Lanka on spinning wickets, that’s the way he plays – really good sweep shots.”
England have used the sweep shot and all of its variations to great effect in the ongoing series. Last time when they toured India for a Test series, Root got a double hundred in Chennai on the back of lots of sweeps and reverse sweeps. However, Vaughan points out that when at his best, Root employs those shots only once he is set – a mantra he has deviated from in this series.
“I knew something was up when I saw him get off the mark in both innings with reverse sweeps. He doesn’t play like that,” Vaughan said. “He gets himself in, then takes risks. Let the firecrackers play like that. Joe has to be the rock, the calming influence while the mad men tee off around him.
“I love this team’s positivity and how nothing seems impossible to them. It’s great that they talk about chasing 600, but they have to remember it cannot be done playing only one way.”
