Joe Root has not been at his best with the bat in the ongoing five-match Test series between India and England. He has scored just 77 runs in six innings at an average of 12.83 without a single fifty-plus score. The Bazball philosophy has hampered his natural batting style of playing the anchor’s role in the batting lineup. Former Australian skipper Ian Chappel has urged Joe Root to abandon the Bazball batting technique and go back to playing in his natural style.
Joe Root has scored over 11000 runs in Test cricket with his natural ability of taking his time and anchoring the innings by playing risk-free cricket. However, his performance has been below average since the introduction of Bazball in the England Test cricket. Joe Root was dismissed in the first innings of the third Test while trying to play a reverse lap shot against Jasprit Bumrah which was caught at the slips by Yashasvi Jaiswal and led to an English collapse.
Ian Chappel opined that premeditated shots like reverse laps, scoop shots, and ramp shots are not good for Test cricket, especially for someone like Joe Root who scores a lot of runs playing technically sound cricket. “Root had a bloody fine record playing normally, and he was a quick scorer playing normally. I don’t see why he’s trying to change things drastically, and I’ve never believed you should play premeditated shots,” Chappell said to World Wide Sports.
“You can’t always do it – it’s got to be according to the conditions and also who’s bowling. Some bowlers you can score off a lot quicker than others, but when a really good bowler is bowling a good spell, you’ve got to be prepared to try and battle it out and think to yourself ‘Well, when he goes off, it’ll get a bit easier. You’re always trying to score runs – that’s got to be your prime aim. But, you’ve also got to realize some conditions, against some bowlers you can score quicker than others,” he added talking about Joe Root’s shot against Bumrah.
Joe Root has a terrific record against India
Joe Root has scored the most runs against India amongst all the English players but the Bazball philosophy is not working in his favor. He has amassed 2603 runs against India in 51 innings across 28 matches at an average of 56.59 including 10 half-centuries and nine centuries. However, his runs tally in the ongoing series is nowhere near his previous stats. When England last toured India in 2021, Joe Root was the highest run-getter and also scored a double century in the first Test.
India and England will now face each other at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi for the fourth Test of the five-match series. The match will commence on February 23, Friday and India will look forward to sealing the series with another win and continuing their unbeaten run at home with 17 consecutive series wins in India. England on the other hand is in a do-or-die situation as they cannot afford to lose in the Ranchi Test.
