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ENG vs IND: Root’s art of saving the day

The whispers travel faster than actual words. In the case of Joe Root that was more than true. Right before the series, there were whispers about how all is not well in the England camp. The headlines of websites went on to read that Root wasn’t himself. It was everywhere that one couldn’t stop but link all dots.

A few days ago, he had his teammate, his friend, taking an indefinite break from the game. Root then called in for an early press conference, a couple of days before the match, in order to give him time to prepare for the match. When he was asked about Ben Stokes, he took a moment to relax and said that he just wants his friend to be okay. The moment of pause would make one question whether he was feeling the pressure too.

Of course, leading a team comes with its challenges but to lead a team with a fragile batting line-up that doesn’t even bend but breaks are just too much to handle. To add more, there was bio-bubble trouble, Ollie Robinson’s old racist tweets, Ben Stokes’ break, Rest, and rotation. Archer’s absence, Ashes uncertainty. With all these, Root’s responsibility with the bat grew more.

These were new troubles that were going around as whispers while the old one- Root’s failure to convert the starts to big scores- became a loud talk recently. Though he had honorable outings in Sri Lanka and India recently where he took his team to victories, it was more like free gigs a musician would do to invite his people for his paid gigs.

In between the free gigs and the day of his main show arrived, Root made a few changes to his art and he wanted to just have fun. He wanted to put all the negative thoughts aside and was looking for a solution for all the situations he was going through at that time.

As the team got into the Test, he knew he was against one of the best bowling attacks. He knew he wanted to do something to keep up with them. He wanted to company to make it all possible. He was ready to go to all extents for the same. There was this tiny moment when Sibley’s review got overturned. He was punching the air, something, you wouldn’t see often.

Despite all his efforts, the whole band misfunctioned. Root, being the lead singer, had to turn in, in such a way that he wouldn’t disappoint the pack that arrived to see him. He had to save the whole band from embarrassment while looking pretty in front of the crowd. The pressure was so much so that, he had a bit of celebration right after scoring the ton. Though it was nothing but by Root’s standards, it was something different, something you haven’t see from Root in a while.

While at the gig, he found a way to have fun and his delightful drives gave the crowd a few good moments to cheer. As the day went by, he stood as the difference between the challenge and the winning chance. Day five could’ve gone either way. England could’ve done it. India could’ve done it. However, the match wouldn’t have seen the fifth day if not for Root’s intervention.

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