Former England captain Joe Root was all praises for his teammate Harry Brook and opposition pacers Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj at the end of day four of the ongoing fifth and final Test against India. England requires 35 more runs to win the Test and the series, while India needs four more wickets to end the series on equal footing.
As the action moved into the final day, Brook's stunning 111 in 98 balls and a classic Root century destroyed India's aspirations of winning easily despite defending a huge 374.
According to Root, batting with Brook is "always a pleasure."
"We have both got very contrasting games, but I think that works well in our favor. He plays slightly more expansively than I do and has a fantastic array of shots, but what I admire most is the amount of pressure he puts back on the opposition, the way he takes calculated risks at the right moments, and how he can open a game completely up, as he did today; it is great,” Root said in the press conference after day four.
Root said that it is amazing being a "second fiddle" to Brook and watching his fine shot-making from the "best seat in the house."
"He is an incredible talent, and it is not like he is a one-off fluke. He has got 10 hundreds playing in a very similar manner. He is incredibly consistent at it, and there is definitely a huge amount of method behind what he does. The impact it has had on this test match is why we are sitting here, needing only 35 to win. It has been an incredible knock," he added.
Regarding his annoyance at being dismissed by Prasidh Krishna, with whom he had a furious argument in the first innings, Root stated that his annoyance stemmed more from his inability to complete the match than from the prior exchange between the two.
"Prasidh is a proven performer. He is a brilliant player. You do not play for India as a seamer without having a huge amount of talent, and clearly, he is going to do great things in the game, but it was not anything between the two of us that brought that on.
That was more frustration on my part for not getting us over the line. That is what you pride yourself on as a player, as an experienced batter in that situation. You have to be able to absorb pressure and understand that they are allowed to bowl well for periods. Then, when you get your opportunities to counter that, you take them. I just mis-executed on that occasion.
When you are 100 not out, you do not expect that from yourself, so that is where the frustration came from. There was no overhang from what happened in the first innings or anything like that," he said.
Root also praised Mohammed Siraj, calling the bowler a "warrior" for his relentless speed, which continued to trouble England as he bowled 26 overs with figures of 2/95.
"He is someone that you want on your team. He is that kind of character. He gives everything for India, and it is a credit to him for that, the way he approaches cricket. He has got this fake anger about him sometimes, which I can see straight through. You can tell he is actually a really nice lad. But he tries incredibly hard. He is a very skillful player.
There is a reason why he's got the wickets he has: because of one, his work ethic, and two, his skill level. I enjoy playing against him. He always has a big smile on his face, and he will give everything for his team. I guess you could not want anything more of that as a fan watching, and it's a great example to any young player starting out," he concluded.
Joe Root scored his 39th century in his 158th Test and now has the fourth most Test centuries behind Ricky Ponting (41), Jacques Kallis (45), and Sachin Tendulkar (51).
(ANI inputs)
