Ravichandran Ashwin picked a five-for vs England in Ranchi Test on Sunday.© BCCI

Joe Root did not bring out the sweep shot until he faced his 115th ball on a clement Friday at Ranchi and unleashed only a solitary reverse sweep while constructing a slow-burning hundred to save the day for England. Root’s unbeaten 106 off 226 balls, which was made at a strike rate of 46.90, was, perhaps, the most anti-Bazball innings that might have been played in the Brendon McCullum era. But then Root needed to rediscover that dogged Yorkie inside him – for himself and the team.

He entered the fourth Test against India on the back of 29, 2, 5, 16, 18, 7 in his last Test innings and that 18 in the first innings at Rajkot might have hurt him deeply.

England were at a dominant 224 for two, well in sight of India’s first innings total of 445. But Root decided to reverse lap Jasprit Bumrah for Yashasvi Jaiswal to pull off a smart catch at slip.

His dismissal sparked an England collapse as the tourists were bundled out for 319, and India converted that lead into a record victory and a 2-1 series lead.

It sparked the discussion about the careless side of Bazball, and Root’s 50-plus average during the McCullum reign was not good enough to slow down the wagging fingers at him.

The 33-year-old needed an innings of substance for that, and he had to return to his original batting ways. Ian Chappell, a cricketing master-brain, offered a similar thought.

“Root had a bloody fine record playing normally, and he was a quick scorer playing normally. I don’t see why he’s trying to change things drastically, and I’ve never believed you should play premeditated shots,” Chappell told World Wide Sports.

Root did precisely that, curbing his desire for fancy. However, it is not that the former England captain cannot pull off the extraordinary.

A quick look at a You Tube clip of Root reverse scooping Pat Cummins during the Ashes last year will offer validation for his skill level.

But that was at Edgbaston and the pitch there had a lot more carry than the ones in the sub-continent, and playing those shots might have been a tad easier for him.

So, Root had to be cautious and judicious here. But it was not all catnip for Root as he had to ward off a few uncomfortable moments during his innings.

In the very first ball he faced, debutant pacer Akash Deep brought one back into Root to ping his pads but in DRS, taken by Rohit Sharma, it was evident that the ball was missing the leg-stump.

Later, Mohammed Siraj too hit his pads with an in-swinger as Root almost paid for his delayed front foot movement but for a feather of an inside edge. He was 82 then.

When Root was on 97, Akash Deep’s reverse swinging in-dipper came in and slammed into his pads, but umpire Rod Tucker deemed that the ball was doing too much.

But, as any other great batter, he showed braveness to move on from those momentary discomforts to build an old-fashioned Test innings.

He struck just nine boundaries, including a flowing drive through covers off Akash Deep to reach his 31st Test hundred, but lack of big hits never bothered him.

Root was content in taking those singles and twos to put his and the team’s score on an upwardly mobile curve.

His approach was more sanguine than flashy, but received its appreciation from the high priests Ben Stokes and McCullum when they signalled thumbs up from the dressing room to celebrate his century.

The more cynical among us would point to the absence of the rested Bumrah for Root’s success.

But Test cricket is all about a match-up between possibilities, and none knows that better than Root.

Bowling full tilt at nets raised hopes of Ben Stokes rolling his arms over in the fourth Test against India but the England captain on Thursday preferred to keep the suspense over his availability as a bowler in Ranchi. Due to issues with his knee, Stokes has been playing only as a batter since the second Ashes Test last June. However, he was seen bowling extensively at the nets on the eve of the fourth Test. Asked about the possibility of him bowling in the match, Stokes said, “Nah, I think it’s maybe, maybe not.” Stokes said going in with two pacers is the best option for England, forcing them to include the tall Ollie Robinson in the playing XI, even though the Ranchi track is likely to assist the spinners.

“Bringing Robbo (Robinson) in gives us good options, especially looking at this wicket,” Stokes said at the pre-match media interaction.

“I feel like the spin will be assisted, but I also feel having two seamers gives us a good chance purely because of Ollie Robinson’s release height and his relentlessness with his areas.”

The 30-year-old Robinson, who last played in the Ashes, has come at the expense of Mark Wood, while Shoaib Bashir replaced leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed.

“You look at the player Mark is, especially with the ball, you want someone like that operating at 100 per cent.

“His number one skill is how fast he bowls and the effort he put in last week was monumental. You want to be able to keep players like that on the field operating at that level.

“We do like to look at the pitch two days out and one day out, because that’s how we like to pick our XIs. You want to give yourself some idea or some indication about what XI you think is going to give you the best chance.

“Looking at that, I think there is going to be assistance for spin, but I think also it looks like someone like Bash (Bashir), who releases the ball from such a high release point, the extra bounce that he gets, we feel, is going to bring us more into the game.”

‘Don’t prejudge the pitch too much’

Stokes added spice to the talks on Ranchi pitch, saying he has not seen anything remotely like the 22-yard strip here in the past. But he also stated that it’s not fair to have “preconceived ideas” about the pitch.

“We get asked about the pitch and we give our opinion, but that doesn’t mean we are going in with too many preconceived ideas. The pitch could be as flat as a pancake, who knows.

“If it is, we will adapt to that. If it does more than we think it will, we will adapt to that as well. We won’t let those conversations seep into what we do.” England have retained old warhorse James Anderson who is seven shy of reaching the landmark 700 wickets and become the first pacer to achieve the feat.

The 41-year-old has bowled 73 overs in two matches in the series and taken six wickets.

“If you’re a young fast bowler, Jimmy Anderson is the one person who you want as your role model. Not only the amount of wickets he’s got but the fact that he can keep going at his age.

“Especially over the last two years, he’s also introduced new ways of operating. We’ve seen him commit to bowling bouncers, we’ve seen him bowl around the wickets to right handers, use the skills when the conditions need that.

“Even saying approaching 700 wickets as a fast bowler is incredible but I don’t think that’ll be at the top of his mind this week just because of where we are in the series,” he concluded.

With a 2-1 lead in hand, India will take on England in the fourth Test in Ranchi, hoping to clinch the five-match series. However, the hosts, who have already missed key players in three matches so far, will be without the services of Jasprit Bumrah, who was released from the squad ahead of the game, starting Friday, February 23. The decision to rest Bumrah “was taken keeping in mind the duration of the series and amount of cricket he has played in recent times.” Mukesh Kumar, who was released from the squad for the 3rd Test, has been added back to the team as a cover for Bumrah.

England captain Ben Stokes said that he found the appearance of the pitch in Ranchi quite deceptive as he felt it has a proper grass cover from a distance but on a closer inspection, the all-rounder found that there were several visible cracks and can be challenging for both the batting and bowling sides.

As per Stokes’ description of the pitch, India might be tempted to play an extra spinner, with Axar Patel replacing Bumrah in the XI.

Here’s what we think could be India’s playing XI for the 4th Test vs England:

Openers: Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal

India captain Rohit Sharma silenced his doubters with a key century in the first innings of the game in Rajkot. Rohit, during a 200+ runs stand with Ravindra Jadeja, managed to bail India out of danger. He will look to get another big one in Ranchi with Virat Kohli and KL Rahul both ruled out.

Yashasvi Jaiswal made it two double centuries in as many games. The young opener lead the series scoring charts with 545 runs in six innings. He will continue to open with Rohit.

Middle-Order: Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel

Just like Rohit, Gill also did a huge favour to himself and India, smashing 91 in the second innings in Rajkot. A big knock is due from Gill in the remaining matches.

Madhya Pradesh star Rajat Patidar hasn’t managed to adapt to the pressure of international cricket. In two games he made 46 runs at 11.50. However, he is likely to be backed by the management for another game.

Making their respective debuts in Rajkot, batter Sarfaraz Khan and wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel looked unflustered by the occasion.

Sarfaraz, after years of toiling in domestic cricket, took the opportunity when it arrived. He smashed half-centuries in both the innings, and could’ve reached triple figures in both if it wasn’t for a unfortunate run out and India’s declaration.

Jurel, who replace KS Bharat as the stumper, was technically and temperamentally sound. He also hit a quikfire 46 in the first innings and was livewire behind the sticks.

All-rounders: Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja

Jadeja shone on his homeground, smashing a century in the first innings. He also proved to be the match-winner with the ball, bagging a five-wicket haul in the second innings as India blew away England.

Ashwin took his 500th Test wicket in only his second over of the match. However, it took him a couple of days to get his 501st, having flown to Chennai mid-match to spend time with his ill mother.

Bowlers: Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep

Kuldeep will play as the third spin options while Siraj will lead the pace attack in Bumrah’s absence. Bengal pacer Akash Deep is most likely to make his debut.

India Predicted XI for 4th Test vs England:

Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep.