ENG vs IND 2021: Joe Root is right there with all the greats – Dawid Malan

England’s batsman Dawid Malan has lauded his skipper Joe Root after the talisman scored his 23rd Test century in the ongoing Leeds Test match against India on Thursday.

Root continued his dream form as he batted at the top of his game on the second day of the Test match.

In fact, the talisman meant business as soon as he came to the crease. Root got off to mark on the first ball he faced and looked busy right throughout his innings. The England captain kept rotating the strike and he was able to deliver the goods once again.

Root scored his runs at an impressive strike rate and looked busy at the crease as he found the gaps to perfection. The right-hander scored 50% of his runs through the point and third man region as he played the ball late. In fact, Root was hardly beaten once or twice throughout his innings as Indian bowlers failed to cause any kind of trouble to the England skipper.

“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.

On the other hand, Dawid Malan was able to put paid to England’s no.3 woes as the southpaw scored a fine knock of 70 runs. Malan added 139 runs with Joe Root and strengthened England’s grip in the Test match. The no. 1 T20 batsman added that it is difficult to get clarity during the Covid-19 era and all they know right now is that they are going to play in the IPL.

“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 on Live TV.