England inched ahead of team India with a 27-run lead in the first innings of the second Test being played at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Captain Joe Root batted the entire third day and remained unbeaten on 180 as England was bowled out for 391.
Root notched up his 22nd Test hundred and reached 150 in the final session of the day. He now has four 150+ scores at Lord’s, the most for any batsman at the iconic ground.
Former India batsman VVS Laxman was in awe of Joe Root’s innings and said that the Yorkshire batsman is enjoying the responsiblity of being England’s batting mainstay.
“Pure Test match hundred. We saw the same in Nottingham as well. I think he is relishing the fact that the responsibility lies on him, Joe Root the captain, and Joe Root the batsman. I think that extra responsibility is getting the best out of him.
Leading into this Test series, there was a lot of talks - can Joe Root be consistent? Can he convert those half-centuries into big centuries? There was a lot of talk about the brittle English batting line-up,” said VVS Laxman on ESPNCricinfo.
Joe Root was criticized for not converting his 50s into hundreds. Critics opined that the England captain was not in the same league as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson. However, Root has shut his critics with his fifth Test century in 2021. He also crossed the 9000-run mark in the longest format during his marathon knock.
VVS Laxman said that Joe Root is right up there with the very best in the business.
"The best way to shut down criticism is by performing. And performing when it matters the most. That is exactly what Joe Root has done in Nottingham and today.
He is up there with the best. I always felt Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and I will also include Babar Azam in it, these five players are fabulous batsmen at the highest level. The best thing about them is that they are absolute role models to youngsters and they take on the responsibility and the challenges that they confront,” added Laxman.
"All players (except Smith) are captains of their respective teams. At the same time, they are the main batsmen. We know what kind of responsibility the main batsman has. It is never easy to fulfill such kind of expectations. All these five batsmen, whenever they get runs, they dictate terms,” Laxman signed off.
(ESPNCricinfo inputs)
