The fact that Joe Root dropped Rohit Sharma during the third Test match between India and England in Rajkot, according to former Australian cricket player Brad Hogg, was one of the major turning points.
It may have resulted in the hosts losing four wickets in the first session, given that the Indian captain was only 27. According to Hogg, that may have made things worse for the hosts by exposing debutant Sarfaraz Khan to Mark Wood’s quick pace up front.
Joe Root is not having a great series with the bat, and after dropping Rohit Sharma on 27, the Indian captain went on to score 131 runs and put up a partnership of 204 runs with Jadeja to set the stage for India to put up a mammoth 445 runs in the first inning.
“Sarfaraz Khan will thank Joe Root for not taking that catch of Rohit” – Brad Hogg
Here’s what Brad Hogg said in a video on his YouTube channel regarding that dropped catch by Joe Root (20:45):
“Joe Root not taking that catch of Rohit Sharma on the first morning when India were three down was a costly miss. That denied Sarfaraz Khan coming in with India four down and Wood still fresh. Sarfaraz will thank Root for not taking that catch and he was lucky. But he took his opportunity and did really well. He is going to have a bright future.”
“Joe Root has scored a lot of runs playing that shot”- Brad Hogg on Root dismissing attempting a reverse sweep
Sarfaraz scored 62 and 68* in both innings, having an incredible performance. However, Joe Root’s poor series continued, and when he was dismissed following a reverse sweep from Jasprit Bumrah‘s bowling, the criticism mounted even more.
Brad Hogg spoke on this at (24:48) :
“You need to know that Joe Root has scored a lot of runs playing that shot. And now that he has been dismissed twice that way in recent times, people are questioning him. He shouldn’t be questioned. For me he needs to keep playing that shot if he needs to keep putting pressure on the opposition bowlers.”
One of the key reasons why England hasn’t been able to achieve a total of 400 or more more than once in the series is because Joe Root has only managed to score 77 runs from six innings so far.
“You play by the sword, you die by the sword”- Brad Hogg on England’s approach
Following their collapse in Rajkot, where they went from 224/2 to 319 all-out in the first innings, England’s Bazball strategy was heavily criticized. Brad Hogg, however, expressed his opinion as to why the visitors’ strategy wasn’t incorrect, saying (27:00):
“England tried to score as quickly as possible to avoid batting in the conditions they did on Day 4 where they got bundled out. I thought England’s approach was perfect and we’re set up nicely by Duckett. You wanted to get ahead of India as quickly as possible and it just didn’t come off. You play by the sword, you die by the sword.”
India’s 434-run victory margin in the Rajkot Test was their largest ever in the history of the series. In order to recover from such a crushing defeat, England will require serious motivation. The fourth Test starts in Ranchi on Friday, February 23.