The Rohit Sharma-led Team India are hosting England in the five-match Test series. While the series currently stands 2-1 in favour of India, the two teams are locking horns in the fourth Test at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi. While the visitors were handed early blows with Zak Crawley departing at 42, Ben Duckett (11), Ollie Pope (0), Jonny Bairstow (38) and Ben Stokes (3) also returned early.
With majority of them struggling, Joe Root played a steady knock as he went to smash a half-century. Seeing him return to form, a lot of former cricketers took to social media to speak about Root’s cautious approach. Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan rather used the term “Root Ball” as he hailed the English batter’s knock.
“Love a bit of Root Ball,” Michael Vaughan wrote on X, while AB de Villiers also shared his opinion around the same.
“This is the Joe Root mode that win you Test matches! Glue mode. Let the rest play Bazz Ball,” former South African cricketer AB de Villiers captioned the post.
The 33-year-old scored only his second 50-plus score from his last 19 innings in Asia. Moreover, he joined Ricky Ponting to register 20th half-century in Tests in India.
Speaking of the fourth Test, at Tea on Day 1, the scoreboard of England read 198/5 with Ben Foakes (28 off 108) and Joe Root (67 off 154) in the middle.