DUBAI // Joe Root has a weird quirk every time he heads to the wicket to bat. A few yards after crossing the boundary rope, he backs up, takes three pronounced backward steps, then continues his onward journey.
In truth, he is just shadowing three back-foot defensive strokes. From a distance, though, it looks as though he is doubting whether he can face the ordeal of heading out there, undecided as to whether he can carry on or not.
How misleading. If there is a batsman anywhere in the world who is enjoying batting more than Root at the moment, they must be on the laughing gas.
And his sure-footedness when he gets to the crease is the secret of his success. Sleight of foot is a vital part of countering high-quality spin bowling, and it was a feature of Root’s unbeaten 76 against Yasir Shah and company on Day 2 in Dubai.
“He is as good a player of spin as an Englishman as I’ve seen,” Stuart Broad said.
“He is very natural against the spin, he doesn’t look panicked or rushed. He knows his areas to score and he plays it.”
The method propagated by Root, as well as his captain Alastair Cook, in one and a half Test matches in this series in the UAE so far, has been a world away from that of England last time they ventured here.
Back in 2012, a side of experienced, celebrated star batsmen were flighty, and wilted in the face of the Pakistan spin examination. England’s counter-attack this time around has been the complete contrast so far.
“From a bowler’s point of view, sitting there watching, you feel quite relaxed when [Root] is out there,” Broad said.
“It doesn’t look like he is panic sweeping, then dancing because he is not sure what to do.
“Last time we came here, three years ago, it was like tossing a coin to see what shot we were going to play. Joe and Cookie have brought a lot of calmness that the younger guys can feed off.”
England’s commendable travelling support were at their most vocal so far on this tour during Friday’s play at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. After Cook clipped a four off his pads off Imran Khan to reach his fifty, they broke into tune.
Strains of “Na na na na, Ally Ally Cook,” bounced from the seats above the away team dressing room. There is a certain irony in the fact Cook’s Barmy Army anthem is an adaptation of Give It Up by KC and the Sunshine Band.
Because, when it comes to his wicket, he refuses to. Landmark duly celebrated, Cook proceeded to make the most emphatic block to the next delivery sent down.
It could not have said “get past that” any more if he had got some bricks and a trowel out and started building a little wall in front of his stumps.
Cook’s stickability was well documented even before this tour started with his nearly 14-hour epic in Abu Dhabi. He has shown the way for his young colleagues to follow again, though.
The captain eventually became the first victim of Yasir, fit again after his back spasm in Abu Dhabi, in this series, caught at leg-slip for 65.
Once his smart alliance of 113 with Root had ended, England might have been anxious, but Jonny Bairstow took a lead from his forebears and was similarly forthright.
He and his Yorkshire colleague Root will start the third day with an unbroken partnership worth 55.
England, it appears, are refusing to take a backward step.
THE NATIONAL VERDICT
Mushtaq Ahmed, Pakistan’s spin-bowling coach, suggested at the close of Day 2 that the match is poised “50-50” between the two sides. It is difficult to argue with that. Day 2 was England’s, but realistically they will still have to bat last on a pitch that looks set to wear, and thus turn for Pakistan’s three spin bowlers. Cutting into the 196-run deficit today, and eking out a lead — ideally of as much as three figures — is going to be tough. It will be the away side’s best chance of success, though.
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