Root scores double-century on Day 2 of India Test

Root scores double-century on Day 2 of India Test

England captain Joe Root celebrates reaching his 100 during Day Three of the Third Test match between the West Indies and England

England and Joe Root continued their dominance on Day 2 of the 1st Test match in Chennai. The England captain scored a stunning 218 to become the first opposition player to score a double hundred in India since Brendon McCullum all the way back in 2010. Root has continued his fine form from the Sri Lanka series and his double century meant that in the history of Test Cricket he is now only the second batsman after Kumar Sangakkara to score 180+ in an innings in 3 consecutive tests. 

In the opening session Root took the back-seat in terms of scoring runs with Ben Stokes at the crease. The England vice-captain was determined to take the attack to the bowlers and continued to use the reverse sweep against the spinners to upset their line and length. There was a period of pressure from the Indians in the morning, but they couldn’t make the most of it as they spurned two tough catches and missed one run-out opportunity to get Stokes out. Despite his good fortune, Stokes continued to take the attacking route as he hit 10 fours and 3 sixes in his innings of 82 before eventually holing out to Cheteshwar Pujara at deep square leg.

Root, however, continued to look comfortable at the crease and brought up his double century with a 6 off Ravi Ashwin. This was his 5th double century for England, equalling Alastair Cook’s tally and only two short of Wally Hammonds record of 7 double centuries. He was eventually out LBW to Shahbaz Nadeem for 218, the highest score by an Englishman in India. England’s vigil at the crease meant that they ended day 2 of the match at 555-8. While they have batted a significant amount of time, the scoring rate has been largely kept in check by the bowlers at 3 runs an over.

It was another hard day’s graft for the Indians who have spent 180 overs in the field and failed to get England out across two days of play. Each Indian bowler has picked up two wickets apiece, but the pick of the lot has been Ishant Sharma. Playing in his 98th Test match for India, Ishant has bowled 27 overs in this innings with an economy rate of only 1.9. He has been metronomic with his line and length and has troubled the England batsman with very little assistance from the pitch. Sharma was rewarded for his efforts late in the day, with two wickets of consecutive deliveries of Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer.

One disappointing anecdote for the Indians, however, has been the number of no-balls in the innings. They have overstepped the mark 19 times in this innings already and that is something Ravi Shastri and the coaching staff would want to be corrected at the earliest.