When Joe Root Produced A Record 5-Wicket Haul To Rattle India In 2021

image-lru9122qRoot took a fifer vs India [X.Com]

Golden Arm Joe Root's first-over magic on Day 2 of the Hyderabad Test to dismiss opener Yashasvi Jaiswal brought back memories of the last England trip to Indian shores when the then skipper used his understated off-spinners to produce a terrific five-wicket haul in the third Test in Ahmedabad. 

Dismissing for just 112 runs facing the skiddy pink ball in the D/N Test on a pitch turning square, Root became the unlikely hero in reviving the English hopes when he came up with astonishing figures of 5 wickets for just 8 runs in the Indian first-innings. 

When India appeared set to bat the tourists out of the contest on the second afternoon, the part-time off-spinner, who boasts of impressive control over lengths and the ability to vary his speeds and trajectory astutely, brought England back in the hunt by dismissing the hosts for 145. 

When Root Bagged Test Fifer In India 

Sadly for Root, even his magnificent bowling exploits couldn't fully resurrect England's fortunes as the class of Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin pulled them down to the knees in a third-innings collapse for just 81. 

However, the England batting giant could take heart from the fact that his fifer helped him bag a couple of towering records in the history of Test match cricket.

Root's fifer is still the cheapest set of five wickets achieved in the great format. He eclipsed the previous joint holders of the record Tim May and Michael Clarke, who produced figures of 5 for 9 during the Adelaide Test of 1992-93 and Mumbai Test in 2004 against West Indies and India, respectively. 

The veteran cricketer also became the first English captain to take a five-wicket haul in Tests since 1983 and continued his longstanding love-affair with Indian conditions where he is the only England batter to average 50 or more since his debut in Nagpur in 2012.