Joe Root’s 31st Test century overshadowed pacer Akash Deep’s dream debut and also helped England recover from a mini collapse of sorts on the opening day as the visitors ended the day at 307 for 7 at the JCSA Stadium in Ranchi on Friday.
Root, who has been criticised by cricket pundits for his poor run of scores in the first three Tests, thanks to his ill-timed innovative shot selection, mostly influenced by the impact of Bazball, went back to his conventional batting approach in the fourth Test, and got rewarded heavily with a gritty century — his first on the tour. In fact, his highest score before today’s century was a mere 29 runs.
Coming in at No 4 with England struggling at 47 for 2 and further down to 57 for 3, Root anchored the innings to perfection with his 10th Test century against India, and held one end firmly to return undefeated on 106 off 226 deliveries at stumps.
Earlier, pacer Akash Deep made a dream debut to his Test career, taking three wickets in his first six overs to leave England reeling after they won the toss and chose to bat. England eventually lost half their batting lineup in the first session with Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin taking a wicket each before lunch.
The 27-year-old Akash, who replaced Jasprit Bumrah to partner Mohammed Siraj with the new ball, hit an impeccable length and found subtle movement on a dry pitch already displaying some cracks which the seamers were able to exploit for extra bounce. He could have had his first wicket as early as his 11th ball in Test cricket that sent Zak Crawley’s off stump cartwheeling but the celebrations were muted by the no-ball siren signalling he had over-stepped.
Crawley managed to see off the phase, and milked 18 runs off Siraj’s over that included three fours in a row followed by a lofted six over mid-on but Akash came back roaring to claim two wickets in three balls, and a third to record a dream debut. The Bengal seamer first had opener Ben Duckett caught behind off a length ball before trapping Ollie Pope for a duck, which was confirmed by DRS.
In his next over, the 12th of the match, Akash removed Crawley with a perfect-length delivery outside off that seamed back in and pinged the top of off stump to remove the opener for a run-a-ball 42.
Like Root, Jonny Bairstow also made headlines for failing to pile up the runs in the series so far, and the right-handers collaborated to steady the innings with a 52-run partnership before falling leg before attempting to sweep Ravichandran Ashwin after a punchy 38 off 35 balls – and after India overturned Rod Tucker’s on-field decision. Skipper Ben Stokes (3) was left dumbfounded by a full Ravindra Jadeja delivery that kept low and caught him lbw at ankle-height on the stroke of lunch.
The post-lunch session saw a turnaround in fortunes for the visitors with Root and Ben Foakes staging a 113-run sixth-wicket partnership to steady the ship before Siraj came back strongly with two wickets to turn the tide in India’s favour. Foakes fell three shy of a fifty after chipping Siraj to Jadeja at short midwicket, having faced 126 balls including four fours and a sublime six over deep midwicket off Ashwin which brought up the century partnership with Root. Siraj then came up with a beauty to beat the outside edge of Tom Hartley that crashed into his off stump to reduce England to 245 for 7.
Root then paired up with new man Ollie Robinson (31 not out) to put on an unbeaten stand of 57 at close but not before bringing up his hundred with a textbook cover drive off Akash that ran all the way to the boundary rope in a flash.
Spinner Rehan Ahmed back home for personal reasons
England will miss Rehan Ahmed’s services for the remainder of the tour as the legspinner returned home for an urgent family matter. In a statement, the England Cricket Board (ECB) said Rehan will not be returning for the rest of the series, and neither will England seek a squad replacement.
The 19-year-old featured in England’s first three Tests against India, picking 11 wickets at an average of 44, including a match-haul of 6 for 153 in the second game in Visakhapatnam.