Joe Root's Classic Century Anchors England's Recovery in Ranchi Test

Everything might go wrong if a crisis guy is forced to play the part of a stuntman.

Joe Root's style of play has been more about elegance throughout his career, allowing him to accumulate one-and-twos while feeding off of stray balls. Pyrotechnics and attempting gaudy, cheeky shots have never really been his thing, nor has it ever been his style of batting.

During the first three Tests of England's current tour of India, Bazball did persuade him to change his style of play, and it backfired miserably. However, Root returned to form on Friday at the JSCA International Stadium, defeating the Bazball lure.

Such shots, or reverse scoops, have had no place in his innings in Ranchi so far. In his 226-ball knock on Day I of this fourth Test, he has just once played a reverse sweep, which brought him two runs off Ravichandran Ashwin's bowling late in the 71st over.

England discovered on Friday that a disciplined Root may be much more useful than his Bazball incarnation, as it was largely because of his unbeaten 106 that the visitors reached 302/7 at stumps.

After winning the toss, England chose to bat first and would have struggled to reach even 200 if it weren't for Root's 31st Test century on a sluggish, turn-deficient wicket that is also treacherous with some balls staying dangerously low. That came after England had been reduced to 112/5 at lunchtime because to captain Ben Stokes' appalling application of a pitched-up ball from Ravindra Jadeja, who also stayed low.

However, England scored at a pace akin to Bazball in the first session, about five runs per over. Following a reprieve early in the fourth over when he was found to have overstepped after being castled by Akash Deep, Zak Crawley smashed Mohammed Siraj for three boundaries and a massive six to get things going for his side.

The England batting order was quickly unsettled, however, as rookie Akash moved the ball and jagged back in, removing Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Crawley once more to leave the visitors reeling at 57/3. When Akash skillfully used the crease to generate an angle and worry the hitters, Root too seemed a little nervous and cautious.

But this time, he was much more solid than he had been in the previous inning. England sought to respond, with Root hitting close to the line of almost every ball and Jonny Bairstow counterpunching and attempting to get back into form. Until Bairstow, much to Ashwin's delight, flung it away with a poor shot.

The penultimate ball before lunch, when England captain Stokes left the field, suggested that they might fall again. Root, however, did not waver.

Towards the end of play, India skipper Rohit Sharma had summoned in Siraj and Akash to bowl a number of overs with the old ball. Without success, both quicks attempted to test Root with a backward swing.

With a magnificent cover drive off Akash, Root reached his first Test hundred since last June, finding the gaps and putting the ball correctly. The Ancient Root.

But Crawley believes Root held himself back because of the surface. He remarked, "I think Joe would still have played those shots if the pitch had been truer." He may not have been able to sweep or paddle because of the inconsistent bounce. The pitch was a little too erratic. I would definitely anticipate him to reverse-ramp one if the fifth and final Test is played in Dharamsala, where the ground is flatter. When he bats, Joe never overthinks and is always there, according to Crawley.

Root demonstrated that class players know when to change up their strategy. Luckily, he found friends in bowler Ollie Robinson and keeper-batter Ben Foakes (47), with whom he stitched together partnerships of 57 and 113 for the sixth and eighth wickets, respectively. This has caused India to feel some pressure again.

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