Joe Root looks to cash in on red-hot form

CHENNAI: England captain Joe Root has joined an exclusive list of players by notching up a hundred in his 100th Test. Only eight players in the game's history - Colin Cowdrey, Javed Miandad, Gordon Greenidge, Alec Stewart, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Ricky Ponting, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla - have been able to achieve that milestone before him. Given the form Root is currently in, his century on the opening day is just a pit stop in a career destined for many more peaks. The 30-year-old now has scores of 128*, 186 and 228 in his last three Tests. It is a welcome change from a time when Root was struggling to convert his half-centuries into tons.


Asked whether he is playing his best cricket now, Root nodded in the affirmative: "Certainly, I mean I am in some good form and I need to make sure I cash in on it. I think over the course of my career, I've not always gone on to make really big scores, so for me to be doing that currently is really pleasing. I keep getting myself in positions to make big hundreds and I have got to keep taking them."

For a brief while, Root was criticised for not always matching up to contemporaries like Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson, even though he will point to the fact that he plays most of his cricket in arguably the most challenging batting conditions in England. Root seems to have taken the criticism on board and worked on a few technical changes.

"I have worked on a few technical things. I have looked at certain trends of how I was getting out certain times in my innings and tried to eradicate it. I try to evolve as a player and it seems to be working nicely at the moment. The challenge is to see if I can get better all the time," Root said.