England captain batsman Joe Root started, as usual, looking to take on bowlers from ball one, but out of nowhere got out to a harmless delivery and was forced to take a long walk back to the pavilion for 45.
Most alarming was his dismissal to the left-arm bowler Mohammad Amir. Looking at Amir’s plan, it was clear he had a well-set idea to dismiss the Briton, as he kept bowling a wide off-stump line with only two out of 20-odd deliveries straight.
In other words, from going over the wicket to trying to bowl off fourth, fifth stump line to him – the plan wasn’t to swing delivery inwards or to go away but to play with the ego of the batsman – to have Joe wanting to get the feel of the bat on the ball.
It’s been more of the same pattern of dismissals for Root. He was got out in the same fashion in the last Test to Hasan Ali, and even in the UAE back in 2015 he was cutting, driving, fishing outside off to Rahat Ali, Wahab Riaz.
Is it a chink in Joe Root’s armour? Let’s have a closer look.
Root averages 42 against left-arm fast bowlers, while against right-arm fast bowlers he averages 48. He has been dismissed only 23 times by left-arm fast bowlers. It could be that he perhaps faces more left-arm bowlers.
(Nigel French/PA Wire)
Now let’s take a look at bowlers who troubled him in the recent past.
Mitch Johnson, Mitch Starc, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner. Unfortunately Root had to bear the brunt of their venoms when perhaps all the bowlers as mentioned above were at their peak – Mitch Johnson in the 2013-14 Ashes, Mitch Starc in 2017-18 Ashes, Trent Boult in the 2015 Test series after his wicket-taking spree in the 50-over world cup and Neil Wagner as recently as last Test series.
Those challenges were far from conquerable, as the whole responsibility of the team lies on Joe Root, with none playing the role of the aggressor, which always meant Joe was to be the man who took on bowlers as they looked to accelerate.
Another more in-depth analysis shows that when Root plays on the back foot he averages 62 against left-arm fast bowlers, but when he plays on the front foot he averages a mere 30. The more productive option, therefore, is the back-foot punch.
But another issue could be his attacking instincts as Joe looks to take on the bowler right from the word go. Perhaps just a loss of concentration or merely the mental block of not getting a big one means all these stats are highlighted more.
But Joe needs to be a bit more compact as he gets into the 40s and 50s, and perhaps just one big knock and it could be he gets his mind right. You never know – cricket is a lot more a mental game than a numbers game.
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