Joe Root heaps praise on both bowling attacks after England pull off a thrilling win
Joe Root was ecstatic as he expressed the bowling department of both teams after his side managed to pull off an entertaining 31-run victory at Edgbaston. Root further added that Ben Stokes, who ended with figures 4/40, will be missed in the second Test due to his upcoming trial in Bristol.
Indian captain Virat Kohli must be scratching his head wondering where they went wrong after they looked the favorites to win the crucial series opener. India ended day three at 110/5 and needed just 84 runs to win with Kohli and Dinesh Karthik on the crease. But the English bowlers were determined to give the visitors a run for their money, and boy did they do that!
Some brilliant bowling by the English bowlers, all-rounder Ben Stokes, in particular, handed England a thrilling 31-run victory over India and gave them a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series. England captain, Root, was ecstatic over the win as he went on to praise the bowling attacks of both teams in the post-match interview.
"Anyone saying Test match cricket is dead can watch that on repeat!. I'm still trying to sort of soak it all in but it was a fabulous team performance. This morning we spoke about showing the belief and desire that we had done in the previous three days and if we stayed calm and trusted all the previous areas we'd been bowling then we'd get our rewards and I think we did just that so I'm really proud of the group.
"We knew wickets were going to be quite crucial, but the way that this Test match had gone to that point it always seemed that if you took one wicket you were going to get two or three. We always felt like we were in the game and the ball swung throughout. Credit to both bowling sides actually, India's attack and obviously ours. I think it's important that you don't underestimate how well people have bowled on there," Root said.
Sam Curran put in a beautiful display with the bat and the ball as he was named the Man of the Match in just his second Test match for England. Sam was drafted into the team after an injury to his elder brother, Tom Curran, and is the youngest English cricketer to win a man of the match award in the Test format. James Anderson also picked up four wickets in the match as Adil Rashid failed to live to up to the hype surrounding his inclusion to the team.Â
But a standout performer with the ball was all-rounder Ben Stokes who picked six wickets across both innings, which included the crucial wicket of Virat Kohli in the second innings. However, the RR player will miss the second Test at Lord’s after he was scheduled to stand trial at a Bristol Crown Court on charges of affray. Root added that Stokes’ absence will definitely be felt by the home team, especially after his performance at Edgbaston.
"Ben seems himself. He's gone about things exactly how he was in every other game. And I don't see that ever changing. When he turns up to
"It's always a miss whenever he's not playing but we've got a good group of players underneath this side who have got an opportunity whoever it is to come in and put in a really strong Test performance. So I'll have to sit down with the selection group and think clearly about what's the right squad for that surface at Lord's and then pick accordingly," the skipper added.
