"Came in with a preconceived approach" - Sanjay Manjrekar on Joe Root's dismissal on Day 1 of 1st IND vs ENG Test

Sanjay Manjrekar has opined that England's Joe Root was over-aggressive with the bat on Day 1 of their ongoing Test series opener against India. The visitors won the toss at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on January 25 and opted to bat first.

After coming in, Root was off to a decent start with the bat, scoring 29 runs. However, his over-reliance on the sweep shot cost him his wicket as he perished to Ravindra Jadeja.

Suggesting that the senior batter would've had more success if he had trusted his defence more in the innings, here's what Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo:

"I thought Joe Root did the aggressive approach a little too much. He maybe came in with a preconceived approach, but he's far good a player to only look at one way of scoring.

"Had he maybe trusted his defence a little more and played as per the merit of the ball, because all three spinners that bowled today weren't also at their best, that would have been a more suitable approach for somebody of the calibre of Joe Root."

Manjrekar pointed out how skipper Ben Stokes trusted his defence for the majority of his innings. Assessing the approach of Stokes and Root, the cricketer-turned-commentator added:

"Two batters that stood out for me today were Ben Stokes and Joe Root. They looked secure in defence.

"And for guys who are not feeling vulnerable or anxious while they're defending, they can perhaps not play out of the box too much, like Ben Stokes didn't for a long time before he started realizing that he's running out of partners. But until then, he was happy to just defend and survive."

Stokes was the lone warrior for the visitors, as the remaining batters visibly struggled to counter the Indian spinners. The southpaw scored 70 runs off 88 balls. England failed to capitalise on a good start and ultimately folded for 246.

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"You saw them struggling to get results with the Bazball approach" - Sanjay Manjrekar on how England countered spin

Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out that England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett began the innings well, batting positively against Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

He, however, highlighted how England's Bazball could not work against the spin bowlers. Assessing the visitors' performance with the bat in the first innings, Manjrekar added:

"We saw Bazball against the seam bowlers. When Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah came in to bowl their first spells, they weren't allowed to settle in. You saw that different approach from England as opposed to some of the foreign teams that have come in the past.

"But as the spinners came in to bowl, and the reality of the pitch started to unfold, you saw them struggling to get results with the Bazball approach, barring Ben Stokes, who is an exceptional player. When you talk about general batting, you exclude Ben Stokes from that."

For India, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin bagged three scalps each, while Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah shared two wickets apiece. India finished 119/1 at stumps on Day 1, trailing England's total by 127. Yashasvi Jaiswal (76*) and Shubman Gill (24*) will resume batting on the second day.