Nick Knight lauds Joe Root's 'match-defining' century in Ranchi Test: Game on

England were rescued from a top order collapse in the fourth Test match at Ranchi, on Friday, February 23 by an incredible Joe Root. Root pulled England out of danger on Day 1 of the fourth Test after the team lost 5 wickets in the morning session of the game.

The struggling batter, who had been Jasprit Bumrah's bunny through the Test series looked in pristine touch, as he shunned Bazball and batted according to the situation on Day 1 at the JSCA International stadium. Root remained unbeaten at stumps on Day 1, at 106 off 226 balls, with a strike rate of 46.90. Root resilience saw England recover from 112/5 and post 3012/7 at the end of the day's play.

IND vs ENG, 4th Test: Day 1 Highlights

Root, England's senior batter was under immense pressure to deliver in the fourth Test match, given the critics had come for his head after the conclusion of the Rajkot Test match, which England lost by 434 runs. In that game, Root had reverse-scooped Jasprit Bumrah into the hands of the slip fielder.

Root curbed all the hunger for Bazball and played a monk-like innings in Ranchi on Friday. Former England cricketer lauded Joe Root for his effort and said that his hundred could turn out to be a match-defining one.

"I prefer repeating myself from what happened in the last Test match. I think I said then it's not how many runs you score, always, it's when you score them. And I think that was probably apparent there, 112 for five, short of runs. Everybody that follows the game has got an opinion on Joe Root. How he should play? Should he play these shots? Should he expand his game? Should he just play how Joe Root has played over many, many years and had a great deal of success? You know all of that? I think he shuts out all of that," Knight said while speaking on Jio Cinema at the end of the day's play.

IND vs ENG, 4th Test: Full Scorecard

"He knows that was his job to do there, you know? Is that game game-changing moment? Possibly. Is it a series-changing moment? Let's not get too carried away because we don't know," he further added.

England captain Ben Stokes had said after the fourth Test match that Root had almost 12,000 Test runs under his belt and did not need advice from anyone. In Ranchi, Root looked to be back in his pre-Bazball form, tiring out the India bowlers and steadily collecting runs. The batter did not hit a single six en route his century and rather relied on strike rotation.

Knight argued that Root had put England in a tremendous position, given he expected the pitch to rapidly wear out as the game progressed.

"England are in this game, big time, having been completely out of it and looked like, you know, 2-1 down in the series. 112 for five. Joe Root. We got out then, Oh, dear, all of a sudden, now we stand here at the back end of the day saying, Do you know what, it's game on now? Because that pitch is gonna wear," Knight said on Jio Cinema.

"I don't how quickly you guys will probably have a better idea than I will. But England have smack bang in this game," Knight concluded on the matter.