Joe Root equals Michael Vaughan as most successful England captain in his 100th Test
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Root smashed a fantastic 218 in the first innings to help England post a mammoth total of 578 runs. The elegant batter went on to score a quickfire 40 off 32 balls in the second innings. Here's a look at some of the feats achieved by Root in his 100th Test match.
England on Tuesday inflicted a crushing 227-run on India in the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in what was a dominating performance from the visitors. England Test captain Joe Root enjoyed a perfect 100th Test match as he not only led his side to a memorable win, which was also the biggest in terms of runs on Indian soil, but also helped the cause with a sensational double century in the first innings to set the platform.
Root smashed a fantastic 218 in the first innings to help England post a mammoth total of 578 runs. The elegant batter went on to score a quickfire 40 off 32 balls in the second innings. His performance was rewarded with a Man of the Match trophy at the end of the game.
The win for England means Joe Root has now led England to as many as six Test wins in Asia. Only Graeme Smith and Clive Lloyd have more wins than Root as a captain in Asian conditions.
Root, with the 227-run win in Chennai, now has 26 wins for England as Test captain as he equals former skipper Michael Vaughan’s tally. This was Root's tenth win overseas as skipper surpassing Vaughan's nine, both leading in 22 matches apiece.
This was England’s sixth back-to-back win under Root in Asian conditions with no other team barring Australia (seven consecutive wins) registering more than three consecutive victories.
“To take 20 wickets in alien conditions is a brilliant job from the bowlers. Knew from the outset it was going to be a good wicket. The first partnership got us going. Different stages guys came in and contributed. That's got to be the way - if we're going to win out here someone has to do that. Fortunately, it was me this week,” said Root after the match.
“We know that India are going to come back hard at us. The idea was to get to 400. Didn't quite materialise like that. But having spent some time out there, I knew the wicket had changed drastically and knew it was going to change again. Wanted to take India's win out of the equation. As a bowling group, we didn't want to worry about the run rate. Standing here, having won the first game is very pleasing,” he added.
England will look to continue their winning run when they take the field for the second Test in Chennai from February 13 whereas India would be itching to bounce back stronger.