IND vs ENG | Joe Root right up there with all the greats, declares Malan after England captain's 121 in Leeds
Joe Root scored his 6th hundred of 2021 in Leeds on Thursday
|England Cricket
Hailing his captain Joe Root for his scintillating 121-run knock, Dawid Malan has said that the Yorkshireman is right up there on top with the greats of the game. Root has now scored 6 hundreds so far in 2021.
Joe Root most certainly is in the form of his life. The England captain added salt to India's wounds by hitting a scintillating 121 on Day 2 of the Headingley Test to help his team take a massive 345-run lead on Thursday.Â
The right-hander reached to his fifty in just 57 deliveries before racing towards his 23rd Test hundred with a four towards mid-on on the 124th ball of his innings. The home crowd rose to its feet and roared 'Roooooot' in the traditional fashion to celebrate their local hero. Third hundred in his last three matches, over 500 runs in just the 5th innings of the series, joint second-highest Test centuries for England, joint second-highest number of hundreds in Tests in a calendar year by a captain and many such accolades came rushing to the 30-year-old.Â
Dawid Malan, who witnessed majority of Root's innings from the other end of the wicket, has heaped rich praises on the star cricketer. Malan has stated that Root's ability to "hurt" the bowlers for missing their lines puts him in the category of other greats of the game.Â
Headingley rises to a local hero đźŹ
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 26, 2021
Simply sensational @root66 đź’Ż
Scorecard & Clips: https://t.co/BZeUFeK87s#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/iqDZiii90o
“You look at all the best players that have played - all the greats, if you want to put it that way - and as soon as you miss your line and your length, they hurt you. Joe is one of those,” Malan said in a virtual press conference after the end of second day's play.
"It's great to watch and it's great to have the best seat in the house when he does play as well as that. It's the ease of what he does and the speed at which he does it.
"He just moves his feet so well and his position when he hits the ball is so good, he hits the ball so much later than most people. He always looks to score with intent, you know if you bowl a bad ball he just puts you away," added the left-handed batsman.
Playing his first test in three years, Dawid Malan cut and drove elegantly for his 128-ball 70. Batting at the crucial number three position, southpaws’ knock at Headingley places him in a strong position to hold the Three Lions' shirt until the Ashes this winter. Malan also highlighted the unforgiving nature of the England calendar in the Covid-19 era.
“The only guarantee we have at the moment is IPL - we don't know if we're going to the World Cup and we don't know if we're going to the Ashes, so it leaves us in quite a tough situation," he said.
"Say you give up the IPL and you don't get picked for either of the England squads, then you've given up the IPL. Or if you go to the IPL and then you get selected after you've gone to the IPL then you're sat in the bubble for five and a half months. Hopefully we can get some answers and we can find some time to get a rest out of these bubbles," he said.
