IND vs ENG 1st Test: Joe Root, the bowler, emerges from ruins once again

Joe Root emerged as the best bowler for The Three Lions, taking four wickets and conceding only 79 runs.

Indian batters came out all guns blazing in their first innings, with the England spinner facing the grit and determination of the hosts. Debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley saw the brunt of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the final session of Day 1. While the other left-arm spinner, Jack Leach, was consistent with line and length, leg spinner Rehan Ahmed leaked four runs per over in the match. 

With England's genuine spinners looking pedestrian, Stokes looked up to former captain Joe Root for some off-spin and response was resounding. 

Root first got rid of Yashasvi Jaiswal off the second ball on Day 2 and continued to bowl with great line and length. He had nearly got the wicket of KL Rahul, who edged the first ball he faced, but Ben Foakes dropped it. 

Check India vs England 1st Test Day 3 live cricket score and match updates here

Root's consistency was quite visible among other spin bowlers, who leaked runs at an economy rate of over 4 runs per over. 

On Day 2, Root returned in the second session to get the wicket of KS Bharat, but the other English bowler gave freebies and allowed Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel to push India's lead over 170 runs at the close of play. 

Root started England's proceedings on Day 3 along with Mark Wood. Both the bowlers dried up the runs, which resulted in the wicket of Jadeja, who was just 13 runs short of his 4th century. The off-spinner got rid of Jasprit Bumrah off the next ball, and eventually, India finished at 436, taking a 190-run lead. The visitors gave away only 15 runs in the 11 overs they bowled on Day 3

Root emerged as the best bowler for The Three Lions, taking four wickets while conceding only 79 runs.

This is not the first time Root has come to the rescue of England with his off-spin. When England came to India in 2021, Root scalped five wickets in under seven overs to keep the hosts on the leash in the Ahmedabad Test's 1st innings. However, India won the Ahmedabad with England batters failing to pick Axar Patel and India eventually won by ten wickets.

In the India vs England 1st test as well, a lot of grit and determination needed from the English batter against Ashwin, Axar and Jadeja.

Root bowling and batting performance in India

Joe Root's Innings by innings stats in India
Inns	Score	Overs	Conc	Wkts	Ct	St	Opposition	Ground	Start Date
1	73	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Nagpur	13 Dec 2012
2	-	1	5	0	0	0	v India	Nagpur	13 Dec 2012
3	20*	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Nagpur	13 Dec 2012
1	124	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Rajkot	9 Nov 2016
2	-	DNB	-	-	0	0	v India	Rajkot	9 Nov 2016
3	4	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Rajkot	9 Nov 2016
4	-	2	5	0	2	0	v India	Rajkot	9 Nov 2016
1	-	2	9	0	0	0	v India	Visakhapatnam	17 Nov 2016
2	53	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Visakhapatnam	17 Nov 2016
3	-	DNB	-	-	1	0	v India	Visakhapatnam	17 Nov 2016
4	25	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Visakhapatnam	17 Nov 2016
1	15	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Mohali	26 Nov 2016
2	-	DNB	-	-	0	0	v India	Mohali	26 Nov 2016
3	78	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Mohali	26 Nov 2016
4	-	DNB	-	-	2	0	v India	Mohali	26 Nov 2016
1	21	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Wankhede	8 Dec 2016
2	-	10	31	2	0	0	v India	Wankhede	8 Dec 2016
3	77	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Wankhede	8 Dec 2016
1	88	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Chennai	16 Dec 2016
2	-	2	12	0	0	0	v India	Chennai	16 Dec 2016
3	6	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Chennai	16 Dec 2016
1	218	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Chennai	5 Feb 2021
2	-	2	14	0	1	0	v India	Chennai	5 Feb 2021
3	40	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Chennai	5 Feb 2021
4	-	DNB	-	-	1	0	v India	Chennai	5 Feb 2021
1	-	11	23	1	0	0	v India	Chennai	13 Feb 2021
2	6	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Chennai	13 Feb 2021
3	-	4	15	0	0	0	v India	Chennai	13 Feb 2021
4	33	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Chennai	13 Feb 2021
1	17	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Ahmedabad	24 Feb 2021
2	-	6.2	8	5	0	0	v India	Ahmedabad	24 Feb 2021
3	19	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Ahmedabad	24 Feb 2021
4	-	3.4	25	0	0	0	v India	Ahmedabad	24 Feb 2021
1	5	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Ahmedabad	4 Mar 2021
2	-	18	56	0	1	0	v India	Ahmedabad	4 Mar 2021
3	30	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Ahmedabad	4 Mar 2021
1	29	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Hyderabad	25 Jan 2024
2	-	29	79	4	1	0	v India	Hyderabad	25 Jan 2024
3	DNB	-	-	-	-	-	v India	Hyderabad	25 Jan 2024

source: espncricinfo