Root's probably the only bloke in our team who could have done that knock: Crawley

In the first three matches of the ongoing India-England Test series, Joe Root found things hard to go his way. With the visitors playing an attacking brand of cricket, Root turned out to be an anomaly in the line-up, trying to be unnatural with his stroke-making and, thus, throwing away his wickets. So much so that a section of the media called his ramp shot against nemesis Jasprit Bumrah in the Rajkot Test the ‘worst shot ever played in the England Test history’.

However, shutting all noises, Root turned his old avatar back in Ranchi to score a fluent century. It was especially important for Root as England had found themselves in a terrible situation, losing five wickets in the opening session in Ranchi. Zak Crawley, who played a characteristically attacking innings yet faltered to score a fifty, revealed that the England dressing room never lost hope on Root, knowing he is their best batter.

"We're chuffed for him, to be honest. We never doubted Joe, we just think if he gets a couple of lowies, he's even more due than before, so we fully expected him to go out and get runs in this game. He deserves everything he gets, he works so hard at his game and he always comes good,” Crawley said in the post-match press conference.

"He's probably the only bloke in our team who could have done that knock; he's that good, he's our best player and he's stepped up when we needed him to," Crawley added. "We needed him to get a score, and he got a score like he's done for so many years now. He's just a phenomenal player, one of the best - if not the best - player we've ever had for England."

There were variable bounces on offer in the first session of the Test and the ball that dismissed Crawley stayed low before moving into him to breach his defense. Akash Deep, who has bowled an insane number of overs in such conditions in domestic cricket, was right at home from the very first over. Crawley admitted that it was difficult initially and the wicket got progressively harder versus the spin.

"It was nipping a lot and nipping quickly. I was trying to bat normally at the start and it was seaming, too difficult. I felt there was one with my name on it. So we had to throw a couple of punches back, and myself and Johnny did that really well actually. Then it got easier, but it was tricky against the spin for the middle-order boys, and they judged that really well. They read the situation and played unbelievably,” the England opener said.

"Against the seam, it was a new-ball pitch but it got harder versus the spin. The softer ball made it bounce a bit more variably. For seam, it was a lot easier by the end, but I think the spin probably got harder.

"It was tricky with the fields they were setting but we just always talk about being present in the moment, playing the situation, and the situation required a bit more caution with that kind of pitch and the variable bounce, and that's what they delivered. At other times, we counter-punched but they played it perfectly and read it well. It was tricky to try and get on top of them with that field, and they just knocked it around and played it perfectly,” the 26-year-old Kent opener added.