Selfish and selective Joe Root savours long-awaited return to form

It’s been 13 months since Joe Root’s last Test century. The knock then, of 226 in Hamilton against New Zealand, was hoped to be the start of a stellar run of form for the England captain. Though it did not manifest as such in 2020, his 168 not out in his first innings of 2021 suggests that overdue streak might be back on the cards.

An 18th Test hundred has England in a commanding position in the first Test, as they ended day two at Galle with a lead of 185 over Sri Lanka. With the help of Essex’s Dan Lawrence, with 73 on his international debut, the host’s spin attack was picked apart on a surface skewed towards them.

Not that you could tell by the ease at which Root defended off the back front and attacked off the front. Or how he swept behind and in front of square. According to CricViz, he now averages 65.10 against the spinners, more than Alastair Cook (52.79) and Kevin Pietersen (49.89), the only two who both have more than his 3,125 Test runs against the turning ball. Such form bodes well for a winter that includes a second Test at the same venue followed by a four-match series in India.

“I do think it's a big strength,” said Root at stumps, whose debut came against India in Nagpur. “One thing that has worked for me well recently in the longer format has been to be a bit more selective, only allowing certain shots and not playing every shot in the book.

“When I was a little bit younger on previous trips I might have tried to play too many shots to the same ball. Being a bit more ruthless, a bit more stubborn and trusting my defence a little bit more at times has certainly paid off this week.

“One thing I was really pleased with today was my shot selection. I felt I got a really good combination of defence and attack and managed to pick the right balls the majority of the time, which helps. It's about doing that more often and being really disciplined with that in practice. I want to really make the most of opportunities like that one.”

That last bit is particularly relevant when it comes to Root’s knack of making it past fifty but not getting to three figures. Friday’s development means he ticks back down to 49 fifties in the format. Last year there were four, though none above 68, and familiar frustrations from all, not least Root, that good starts were being frittered away.

As such, there have been some nerves that he might repeat the same mistake. Not necessarily in the moment - he lunched on 99 not out, pulling out a dab sweep to off-spinner Dilruwan Perera to move to 100 two deliveries after the break - but certainly over the last few years.

“For the last year, two years, I’ve over thought it massively [scoring hundreds],” he said. “Made too big a deal of it in my own mind. Hyped it up and probably because of that it’s been to my detriment. So I tried to very much get in a one-on-one context which each individual bowler and not try and think about anything other than ticking off one at a time with the guy at the other end, building a partnership as much as we could.”

Now, having made it to three figures here, he is looking to make up for those spurned beginnings. This is now the eighth time he has passed 150. The next milestone of a fourth double hundred is just 32 away.

“I mean it’s something that I’ve always been desperate to try and convert those fifties into big scores,” he said. “But generally when I get to hundred I make it really count. I’ve got quite a good record past 100 so tomorrow I’m trying to make that another really big one and drive the game forward from there.”

As skipper, thoughts on his own performance come addled with that of the team’s. And with a sizeable lead with three days ago, the rains that meant day two started an hour and 10 minutes late and finished two hours early, of which more is predicted on Sunday, should not be a hindrance to converting this position into a win.

“It’s a really nice start. Without trying to go through every cliche in the book, all it is is a start right now. Again, their first innings showed exactly what can happen here: very quickly lose a couple of wickets and all of a sudden you’re not as in a strong a position as you might have thought. It’s really important that we stay ruthless, we really make the most of this brilliant start that we’ve got and get that big first innings score that should enable us to have something to bowl at.”