Root thrilled with first Asian ton

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Cricket365
November 9, 2016

Joe Root expressed his delight after scoring his first Test century on the subcontinent on day one of the first Test against India in Rajkot on Wednesday.

Root also expressed relief at having started the series well with much expected of the Yorkshireman on this trip.

He said: “It was very satisfying purely because it was in Asia, where I’d made starts before.

“There was a lot of talk before the series about me making big runs so it’s nice to do it early in the series.

“That pressure is always there when you’re a senior batsmen in the side and you just have to learn to deal with it. I don’t think that’ll ever go away, and if you can’t hack it you’re not going to be there for very long. To start this series well is really pleasing and hopefully it’ll give me a lot of confidence going into the rest of it.”

Umesh Yadav had Root caught and bowled for 124 but the seamer lost control of the ball during his celebration, despite this Root was ruled to be out and the right-hander has no issue with the verdict.

Root said: “I set off walking, it was out, and there’s no point arguing about it.

“I was so disgusted with the shot I didn’t really see what was happening but having seen the slow-mo replay it does look out, even if speeded up it looks strange.”

Root believes it is critical that England convert a good start into a big score on Thursday.

He went on: “It’s a nice start to this series and a great day’s cricket for us.

“Hopefully that will give all of us a lot of confidence for the rest of the series. It’s pleasing, something to build on and a good position to be in.

“I think it will spin later in the game and our seamers will have taken a lot of pleasure seeing it reverse swing after 35 overs.

“I think if we can get 500 that would be a fantastic effort. The more overs we can bat on this wicket then the more it will deteriorate and it will quite quickly. Then the game will speed up quite drastically in my opinion.

“I might be completely wrong but having spent some time out there and seen the cracks on the wicket it might go into fast-forward from day three onwards. That means it’s really important to make a big score tomorrow.”