Former captain and England go-to man with the ball Joe Root has revealed the success mantra to tackle the spin against India after the visitors had plenty of positives at stake on Day 3 of the Hyderabad Test. Root, who scalped two important wickets with the ball in the first session of Day 3 spoke on the mindset required to play reverse sweep which helped them tackle the Indian spin bowling. At stumps on Day 3 England were 316/6 and lead by 126 runs despite having a tough first couple of days.
Root reveals mantra to success
“The most important thing is you don’t think you are going to miss at all. Have that mindset of committing to the shot and nailing it for four or one, or whatever. Pope did it exceptionally well. It took until 110 to make a small error when he got dropped,” Root said after the conclusion of Day 3.
“There were a couple of balls that ripped past his outside edge but you expect that; it’s part and parcel, almost like in England when it’s swinging and seaming around, and you almost give yourself a pat on the back because you’ve not chased it. It’s exactly the same here. It was a really special knock,” Root added.
England were 163/5 at one stage and looked on the verge of another collapse with the bat. However, Ollie Pope’s unbeaten 148 coupled with resolute knocks from Ben Duckett (47) and Ben Foakes (34) helped England take the lead. One key factor during the innings was the reverse sweep which yielded them valuable runs. Overall, England made 79 runs off 46 balls using various kinds of sweeps.
“When it’s hardest is when some spin, some don’t. When it’s consistent spin you can work out when to take it on, and which balls from which line you can take a risk on.
With the game firmly in balance now, Ben Stokes’ men will look to establish a lead of around 200-250 runs which will be a challenging total. They still have four wickets in hand and have found the formulae to tackle the Indian bowling. With six sessions still to be played in Hyderabad and no signs of bad weather, the opening Test match is guaranteed a result.
Day 4 will start at 9:30 AM at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday.