Joe Root says his use of the reverse scoop in Test cricket is to help him “evolve” as a player, believing that if does not do that he will get “found out”.
Root was dismissed playing that shot in the third Test against India in Rajkot, triggering a collapse that proved key as England went on to lose by 434 runs and slip 2-1 down in the five-match series.
However, he parked that funkiness while scoring his 31st Test century in Ranchi with his knock of 122 rallying the tourists from 112-5 to 353 all out, before off-spinner Shoaib Bashir’s four-wicket haul reduced India to 219-7 by stumps on day two.
Root has scored over 11,000 Test runs for England
Root, who has scored over 11,000 Test runs, told reporters while discussing the “frenzy” around England’s Bazball style: “If you keep on trying to play the same way over and over again, teams work you out and they find your weaknesses.
“If you don’t try to get better and find different ways of scoring runs, you’ll get found out.
“Bazball is a word that’s used a lot but that’s your [the media’s] word and it’s created a frenzy. That’s not how we look at it.
“It can be misconstrued and seen as an arrogant way to look at the game but that’s not how we want to do things. It’s about how can we get the best out of each other as a team.
“You’re not always going to get it right (but) we’ll continue to keep trying to improve. We want to be smart and keep looking at how far we can take the ability within our dressing room.
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Nasser Hussain says Root will go down as arguably England’s best batsman of all time
“The reason I’ve played as many games as I have is that I’ve not wanted to stand still as a player, I have to try to keep evolving.”
Root decides against ‘selfish’ reverse scoop with hundred looming
Root was disappointed with how he played the reverse scoop while being dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah in the third Test, saying: “Certainly the execution of the shot has weighed on me, not necessarily the selection but the execution, I’m better than that.”
He admitted to considering playing it again when he was close to three figures in Ranchi before thinking better of it but told the BBC that he will “100 per cent” deploy the reverse scoop in the future.
“It was a fleeting and selfish thought that left my mind very quickly [to get to his century with a reverse scoop],” said Root.
“You don’t mess with the game, you just try and play what you honestly think is the best way to score runs.
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Hussain and Michael Atherton were disappointed with the timing of Root’s reverse scoop in the third Test
“It was nice to finally get some runs in this series. It felt like it’s been a long time coming,” added the Yorkshireman, whose top score previously against India this year was 29 in six innings.
“It’s been disappointing but the fact I have got quite a lot of experience has been able to keep me calm. The way I’m preparing meant it was going to come at some point.”
“I knew roughly how I wanted to get runs on this surface. I do like coming to this part of the world and I feel my game is set up nicely to play well here.”
Follow text commentary from day three of the fourth Test between India and England, in Ranchi, live on skysports.com and the Sky Sports App from 3.45am on Sunday (4am first ball).
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