Former England batter Geoff Boycott slammed Joe Root for talking about playing the ramp shot again after scoring a fine hundred in the recent fourth Test against India in Ranchi. Root shunned the Bazball approach and played traditional cricket to compile an excellent ton.
This was his 31st century in Tests and came after scores of 29, 2, 5, 16, 18, and 7 in the previous three Tests against India. The ace England batter was criticized for his ramp shot dismissal in Rajkot, but Root said he would continue to play the shot.
This statement by Root seemed arrogant to Geoff Boycott and he felt that the England batter was successful in Ranchi because he went back to basics.
"Look at Joe Root. When he played like the old Joe, he didn’t look like getting out and scoring a wonderful hundred. But then when he was asked, he said he would play the reverse ramp shot again. That is what I mean about arrogance. He has just played one of the loveliest hundreds you will see so why talk up ramping again? It is because you want to be seen as a smart alec,” Boycott wrote in his column for the Telegraph.
"Joe went back to basics for one innings and it was wonderful. That tells you everything. The basics have been there for 200 years. They can’t be totally wrong. I know some play in the IPL and think they have reinvented cricket because they play reverse ramps and scoops. They haven’t really. They have innovated, but the basics of cricket have never changed,” Boycott further wrote.
Boycott also believes that England's Bazball mantra has not been effective, particularly against Australia and India. The England legend believes Stokes and his team should have won both games, but the batters let them down.
"Bazball has given Test cricket a shot in the arm and England deserves praise for that. At times, I love it. But I love winning more and England have failed to beat the best two teams in the world: Australia and now India. What should really hurt them is that they should have beaten both.
The batting cost them winning the Ashes and it lost them the series against India. In this series, they have had odd moments when someone has scored a good hundred. But they have been in isolation and there has been no consistency,” Boycott wrote.
After losing the fourth Test to India, England suffered their first series loss under the new regime of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum. The final Test of the series will be played in Dharamshala on March 7.
(Telegraph inputs)
