Former England captain Joe Root ditched the 'Bazball' approach and returned to the traditional way of batting to help his team take the honours on Day 1 of the fourth Test against India in Ranchi on Friday.
Root struck his 31st Test hundred to help England recover from 112 for 5 to reach 302 for 7 in 90 overs after Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first on a slow and low pitch at the JSCA International Stadium Complex.
Root, Foakes & Robinson lead England recovery
Root remained unbeaten on 106 off 226 balls with Ollie Robinson not out at the other end on 31 off 60 deliveries.
The 33-year-old scored his 10th Test hundred against India and broke Sir Alastair Cook's England record for the most fifty-plus scores in the format's history with this being his 91st.
Crucial stands bail England out of trouble
Root was part of two important partnerships with Ben Foakes (47) and Robinson which saw England stage a remarkable comeback after India had them on the ropes in the first session thanks to debutant Akash Deep's opening spell.
Deep along with spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja had sent back half of the English side before the first break after which Root and Foakes added 113 runs for the sixth wicket to bail the visitors out of trouble.
Root's cautious approach was a far cry from his batting in the first three Tests were following the Bazball approach led to his downfall every time he came to the middle.
Akash Deep shines on debut for Team India
For India, Deep finished as the most successful bowler with 3 for 70 while Mohammed Siraj bagged 2 for 60. Ashwin and Jadeja managed just a wicket each despite bowling on a favourable surface.
"I wasn't nervous, had spoken with my coaches, so I wasn't tense ahead of the game. I don't know how it happened, but I used to take every game as my last game and tried my best. Bumrah bahi advised me to drag the length back slightly (in international cricket), that's exactly what I did.
"There was a bit of help early on, but the ball became soft and the wicket was slow as well. We just tried to be as tight as possible and bowl in the right areas," Akash Deep said after the day's play.
