Follow UsJoe Root, in the aftermath of the second day of the Ranchi Test, lavished praise on the duo of Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley, and asserted that the pair standing up and delivering is an ‘encouraging sign’ for England cricket as a whole.
Hartley and Bashir were both uncapped heading into this series, but the young pair have been the pick of the England bowlers so far in this series, taking 26 wickets between them at an average of 33.0, in a series tilted in favour of the batters.
While Hartley bowled England to victory in the first Test in Hyderabad, with a stunning 7-fer, Bashir had his moment under the sun on Day 2 of the Ranchi Test on Saturday (February 24), picking 4 wickets in a marathon spell that saw him bowl 31 overs unchanged.
Remarkably enough, four Tests into this series, both Hartley (18 wickets) and Bashir (8 wickets) have statistically been better than the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin, who has taken his wickets at 38.83 a piece.
Root, post Day 2, was full of praise for the young duo.
"The way the guys have operated today was a brilliant effort," Root said post Day 2.
"I had a great view at first slip, watching them operate. For two young spinners to stand up and perform, it's really encouraging for English cricket, and for us, for the rest of this series and the rest of this Test match."
Root praised the skill and character of Bashir, who has put England in pole position in this Test with his stupendous spell.
"He (Bashir) has been brilliant. He's a great young lad to have in the group. I've not seen much of him, and I might not have known much about him before this series, but he's got a great character.
“He's got a great sense of humour. He takes it all out to the field. And he's clearly, as you can see, got huge amounts of ability and skill and a lot to offer, especially on a surface like this.
"It was great to see him keep coming, time and time again today, asking really difficult questions of their order. And again, he should take a lot of confidence for the rest of this game and moving forward as well."
Bashir might have tilted the game in England’s favour with the ball in hand, but with the bat, it was Root who set up the contest for the Three Lions. Entering the Test under extreme pressure, having scored just 77 runs in the first six innings of the series, Root pretty much owed the team runs.
Things weren’t looking pretty for the visitors at 112/5 at lunch on Day 1, but that’s when the ‘OG Root’ stood up. The right-hander smashed his 31st Test century, 10th against India, to take the Three Lions to a very competitive 353 on a challenging Ranchi deck.
Speaking of his knock, the 33-year-old said that he was pleased to contribute, and revealed that all he focused on was playing the conditions.
"It's been nice to contribute this week," Root said of his knock.
"It has been a lean series for me. So I was desperate to try and get some runs for the guys, and it was nice to do that today. And hopefully that can continue for the rest of the series now.
"Trying to play the conditions, the situation of the game (was crucial). And it was very, very obvious what was needed in that situation on that surface. And thankfully, it paid off.”
Chastised for his shot selection in Rajkot, Root joked that the ‘reverse-scoop’ briefly crossed his mind in the first innings, but he restrained himself from playing it because it was a pretty poor option on this particular surface.
"I must admit it did briefly cross my mind, but on that wicket it's not a great option," Root said, when asked if he contemplated playing the reverse-scoop.
"It was a fleeting and selfish thought that left my mind very quickly. If you look at the previous wicket [in Rajkot], it wasn't as bad, but it was unfortunate it kept a little bit low. But that's how it goes sometimes."
He further defended his shot-selection throughout the series, and claimed that it’s the execution part that’s let him down.
"Certainly the execution of the shots has weighed on me. Not necessarily the selection but the execution. I'm better than that. Batting is about outscoring the opposition, scoring more runs to give yourselves the best chance of winning. If you get out, you're out, and it doesn't matter what it looks like,” Root said.
Speaking of the game situation, Root admitted that England are currently in a great position, but asserted that it’ll be imperative for his side to be ruthless, going forward.
"It'd be great to get a sizable first-innings lead on there and then to really drive that home. We've got to be ruthless. We've got to be proactive about how we go and do it, and clear how we want to go and score our runs. But if we can get anything north of 250, it's going to be a very interesting last couple of days,” the 33-year-old said.