New Delhi: Former England opener Geoffrey Boycott has said a very technically correct premier batter Joe Root is enjoying the best years of his career in Test cricket.
His comments come after Root went past Alastair Cook to become England’s highest scorer in Test cricket via a stunning 262 in the side’s win over Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs at Multan. It has also ensured that Root will have 1000-plus Test runs in a calendar year for the third straight time.
“It was a very flat pitch in Multan with no pace, bounce and very little movement. We would all have liked a bat on it, even at my age. But that is not to take anything away from England. Their batting was magnificent. Joe Root and Harry Brook, using different styles, scored at a great tempo without making mistakes. They didn’t give their wicket away like the Pakistan batsmen.”
“Root is always very technically correct and is enjoying the best years of his career. He is using his bat as a rapier, slicing and piercing the gaps. It’s a slow way of hurting bowlers but it wears them down to the point where they realise they are bowling at a brick wall. They start to feel they are never going to get him out and that is when a dispirited hopelessness sets in,” wrote Boycott in his column for The Telegraph on Sunday.
He also recalled of the first time when he first saw Brook, who made a sensational 317 and become England’s sixth triple centurion in Tests. Root and Brook’s mammoth partnership of 454 is now the highest stand for England in Tests, beating the 411-run stand between Peter May and Colin Cowdrey against West Indies in 1957.
“The first time I saw Brook I felt there was a bit of Kevin Pietersen or Denis Compton about him. He looked like a fairly orthodox batsman who was straining at the leash, waiting to break free. You can tell his instinct is to attack the bowlers and put them to the sword. His only thought is ‘where can I hit it?.’
“He doesn’t think about footwork or technique and just lets his instinct and imagination take over. He sometimes pre-meditates a shot or invents a stroke or just simply gives it a smack. When he is on the charge it is soul destroying for bowlers because they run in thinking “where is Harry going to hit me this time” instead of concentrating on where they are going to bowl the ball. They are two different types of batsmen but so exciting to watch,” added Boycott.
He signed off by saying performances of debutant pacer Brydon Carse and left-arm spinner Jack Leach were also biggest pluses for England from the win at Multan. “English cricket needs some new, fully-fit fast bowlers to take on India and Australia. New boy Carse looked good hitting the deck hard on an unresponsive pitch at good pace.”
“The hope is he can stay fit and consistently deliver that aggression and that high pace. How pleasing it was to see Leach back in the team getting wickets. Spinners usually get better with age and his experience was a bonus,” he concluded.
–IANS
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