It was a bold move by the England management to move Joe Root to No3 and, while the shot that saw him trudge back to the pavilion with a face like thunder – a top edge off the leg-spinner Yasir Shah when trying to slog sweep his way to a half-century – was slightly maddening, the plan itself had already shown some signs of promise.
Root arrived at the crease only two overs into England’s reply on day two, the scoreboard reading eight for one after Alex Hales had fenced to slip. By the time he departed it was 118 for two in the 29th, the 25-year-old having displayed the intent that, dare we say it, his predecessor Nick Compton may have struggled to match.
The England coach, Trevor Bayliss, has long said he desires aggression from two of his three top-order batsmen, a word largely misconstrued by many to mean scoring quickly. Instead, the Australian sees the real value in putting the pressure back on the fielding side though a buzzing positivity and that is the quality Root naturally exudes. At first this meant negotiating Mohammad Amir and the new ball. He did so with exaggerated leaves and a solid forward defence before, following eight deliveries of watchfulness, he dispatched a first boundary via a punch through point. From there he was away, unfurling the trademark Root repertoire of tall, elegant drives and uppercuts when given a hint of width, and clips off the pads when Pakistan’s attack went straight.
His 48 from 72 balls does not mean that an England problem which stretches back to Jonathan Trott’s Brisbane departure – and was only fleetingly eased by Gary Ballance in 2014 – has been solved. Far from it. But during the two hours he was in the middle, some of the thinking behind it, beyond the bravado of the best player sitting at first-drop, became a touch more obvious.
Root, the busiest of this top five, fits the Bayliss bill and it is little wonder the rest of the team are queuing up to bat with him. And here lies the rub, with promotion meaning that in a fully fit England side the distance between himself and such as Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow increases – something that will dismay both men.
Stokes was adamant at the start of the summer that Root must remain at No4, having shared two key century partnerships with him over the past 12 months in both the 161 against New Zealand at Lord’s last year and the 111 in the series-clinching win over South Africa in Johannesburg during the winter. And in the case of Bairstow, who will probably drop down to No7 when the all-rounder returns, his alliances with Root in first-class cricket for Yorkshire and England amount to 2,475 runs from 32 innings at an average of 77.34, 11 of which have topped three figures. Their record-breaking 372 for Yorkshire’s fourth wicket against Surrey earlier this summer is the latest such monster from the two Tykes.
England have instead moved him closer to Alastair Cook, with whom he has already shared 1,000 Test runs – the most among the current generation. The England captain, in their fourth century partnership, seemed to enjoy the company too, registering his second fastest half-century en route to passing Sunil Gavaskar’s record 9,607 runs as a Test opener.
Beneath Root, and occupying the positions in which he spent two years rising to world-class status, are James Vince and Ballance, a pair of batsmen at the bottom of that particular ascent. In little time here the pair both fell lbw to Yasir, whose bouncing, driving brand of wrist-spin is one of the key ingredients in this mouthwatering encounter. Should Root’s move to No3 not result in greater totals during the four-Test series, it will most likely not be down to that decision in isolation.
