India vs England: Joe Root makes a 'sweeping' statement

Joe Root crowned a momentous occasion with a glorious century and a young Dom Sibley complemented him brilliantly as England kick-started their tour of India on a strong note on Friday.

Looking determined from the word go, Root, playing in his 100th Test, stroked an unbeaten 128 (197b, 14x4, 1x6), and with Sibley making an obdurate 87 (286b, 12x4), the duo ensured England bossed the opening day of the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, taking stumps at 263/3.

Root joined Sibley just before lunch after England looked to have frittered away a strong start, Rory Burns undoing all the good work with a needless reverse sweep and a leaden-footed Dan Lawrence trapped leg-before by a Jasprit Bumrah in-swinger.

India pumped up after a nice meal, were ready to go for the kill. The relentless Bumrah and master tweaker Ashwin led the hunt. The duo bowled exceptionally well, constantly testing the technique and resolve of Root and Sibley. The lines, lengths and field placings were suffocating but Bumrah and Ashwin just couldn’t find a way past Sibley and Root.

Veteran seamer Ishant Sharma then joined forces with Ashwin. Despite the opening day pitch offering little help for the bowlers and the ball turning soft earlier than expected, Ishant and Ashwin barely relented. They intensified the pressure with some exceptional attacking bowling as Root and Sibley struggled to break free.

They kept going at Root and Sibley ball after the ball but the duo was up for the challenge. Aware the pitch was a batting beauty, they showed good defensive technique and ample patience to thwart all dangers for nearly an hour. The discipline from both Root and Sibley was remarkable.

Ashwin soon began to tire that forced Indian skipper Virat Kohli to summon Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar. That’s when Root changed gears brilliantly. Bringing out his trademark sweep shot, Root just kept toying with Nadeem and Sundar. Any ball pitched in his range, Root just swept them with utter disdain. If it was slightly shorter, he quickly got to his backfoot and cut them easily. From time to time, Root played the reverse sweep too to annoy the Indians.

Root had two shots for the ball pitched on middle and leg-stump line. He either swept them or played it down the ground. Not getting much purchase from the surface, both Sundar and Shahbaz leaked plenty of runs and with it the pressure created by Bumrah, Ishant and Ashwin vanished.

Root’s confidence began to grow on Sibley, who nicely mixed loads of caution with fragments of aggression. Like how Cheteshwar Pujara blunted Australians in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Sibley simply parked a truck around the stumps. Only when the road was to his liking did he take it out for a drive, by and large staying put at the crease to torment the hard-working Indians.

The Indian shoulders began to sag in the final session as nothing worked for them. Flat pitch and resolute batting combining to make it an arduous day. Rishabh Pant egged them on from behind the stumps but Root and Sibley motored on without any fuss. Root, in majestic form since the start of the year, posted his third straight ton to become the ninth batsman to score a century in his 100th Test.

Sibley, at the other end, didn’t seem in a hurry as the day drew to a close. He just wanted to get through stumps and grind out India for another day. But the tireless Bumrah got one to nip in sharply to trap Sibley leg-before, ending a monk-like 382-minute stay and a brilliant 200-run stand.