As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a batsman. Cricket was all, I used to think about till I was 15-16. My batting was all I used to be worried, excited & overwhelmed about, even though I never played at any professional or big stage. Since, there wasn’t any cricket club in my city, I used to learn batting my own way by watching hours of test cricket, be it any country, not missing pre & post-match discussions/cricket shows that used to come on tv like “masterclass” on star sports and practicing with a round stick, a rubber ball and a wall of my “aage waala” room. Not trying to be a cricket expert/pundit but I have a theory of my own about “what is great batting” and batting in general…since, I have really thought about it all my life. Joe Root’s current form falls into that category of great batting. To give u perspective some other examples are – M. Clarke’s batting during 2012-14/15 with that bad back of his & Virat in 2018 SA. Today, I will talk a little about Joe Root.
Anyone who is not following this series would see Root’s current stats and say “ohh he is in a bloody great form”. But, I would tell you, it’s bloody more than that. I almost watch each and every ball (because online college life, lol) and I am in absolute awe of his batting currently, especially after today’s innings.(no exaggeration here)
Early this year we saw 3 back to back daddy hundreds (2 doubles) from his bat in Asia. Guy was playing spin as if he was born to do so and has grown up playing on those turfs. The basic idea of being successful on Asian soil against the spin is by playing either right in front or right on the back(this idea might not always work on rank turners though, there either one need to counter attack to break the rhythm of the bowler or just keep playing on the line of the ball, hopping luck favours you).Root was doing the same, especially in Srilanka. Root also adopted the art of “playing late on the front foot”. Two contradictory words, right? But this is what he was doing. He used to go on to the front foot but not hurry. He used to transfer his weight but not push. Just waited for the ball to come under his eyes and play as close to his body/pad as he possibly could. This actually is really-really tough thing to do on a regular basis but guess what Root was up for the task. Should we even talk about his back foot game?! Whenever the ball was pitched on the good length, he was quick enough to read the bounce, let the ball drift & grip and then play according to the turn. Also, he had those occasional stepping out, short-arm pulls, cuts and sweeps in his bag. Perfect batting in the Asian conditions in those first 3 matches. Then he suffered in the next 3 games, big time. That was more of mental stability and temperament thing I fell, which he lacked in the later part. Come this series, that only missing element, that temperament, that mental stability is back. You know that you are in great mental space as a batter and you have a good temperament when you are scoring 100s after 100s and piles of runs, even though your team is not performing that well. This was missing in India, Root lacked it there.
This series, he has been amazing, superb and terrific. It’s not just about the 100s that he has scored, it’s also about the way he has scored those 100s and the shots he has been playing. He has been absolutely dominant on the ground with his bat. Indian bowling attack, which is arguably the best in the world currently had have no clue whatsoever as to how to stop Root(Ashwin might come with some tactics though, I feel).This Root has a lot of parallels with Virat of 2018 SA, difference being the format.
Anything short and wide has gone for runs against Root this series. His back foot play is probably the best in the world, currently. Those delicate late cuts, flamboyant square cuts and those punches with his feet being in the air have been the major highlight of this series so far. And the fact that he is playing those cuts/punches off the good length balls, is ridiculous, lol. He has not been troubled by that 4rth/5th stump line, been leaving so well. That line has actually been “corridor of glorious certainty” for him. Chanceless batting.
We saw today how David Malan was struggling against the full-length balls. Just like Malan, Root is also predominantly a back foot player, but unlike him whenever he saw that full ball, he had no trouble shifting his body weight forward and driving the ball through covers or opening his edge by cutting the swing to play it towards square of the off side. This playing with the swing is what Kohli was also doing in 2018.Many people believe that this is one good way to tackle swing in England, purists like Gavaskar doesn’t think the same, though. Clearly, Root has no problems with balls drifting down the leg side or even short balls for that matter. Can u get any better?! The fact that I wrote this much about Root is testimony to the fact that I am in love with his batting currently.
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