England opener Zak Crawley applauded Joe Root following his gritty hundred on Day 1 of the fourth Test against India in Ranchi. The Kent batter also said that the team are happy for Root and that he’s the only player who could’ve played that knock as well. Root starred with an amazing hundred to rescue England from 112-5. The Yorkshire batter also reached the three-figure mark for the first time in the series and for the 31st time in Test cricket as well.

At a presser after the day’s play, Crawley said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, he said: “We’re chuffed for him, to be honest. We never doubted Joe. We just think if he gets couple of lowies. He’s even more due than before, so we fully expected him to go out and get runs in this game.”He deserves everything he gets. He works so hard at his game, and he always comes good. He’s probably the only bloke in our team who could have done that knock. He’s that good. He’s our best player, and he’s stepped up when we needed him to.”

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However, before the Test, the veteran faced criticism, as he hadn’t played as per expectations and faced backlash for his reverse scoop in Rajkot as well. However, Root ended the day unbeaten on 106 to propel the tourists to 302-7 as well. Crawley also said that as the new ball nipped quite a lot, England had to play aggressively before departing.

“It was nipping a lot and nipping quickly. I was trying to bat normally at the start and it was seaming, too difficult. I felt there was one with my name on it.”So we had to throw a couple of punches back, and myself and Jonny did that really well actually. Then it got easier, but it was tricky against the spin for the middle-order boys, and they judged that really well. They read the situation and played unbelievably,” Zak Crawley concluded.