India v England: Joe Root says the tourists still fighting in fourth Test
Sunday 11 December 2016 07:09, UK
Joe Root cursed England's missed chances on day three of the fourth Test against India, but says the tourists are still in there fighting.
Virat Kohli (147no) hit a superb hundred, and shared an unbroken 87-run stand for the eighth wicket with Jayant Yadav (30no), to see India into a 51-run lead, but both were dropped earlier in the day.
Adil Rashid shelled a difficult caught-and-bowled chance when Kohli was on 68, while Root himself dropped Jayant on eight at slip.
"It's bitterly disappointing," said Root. "Unfortunately some half-chances didn't quite stick for us today, including the one late on that I dropped.
"It would have been nice to get that one at the end, but we can't dwell on it. All we can do now is look forward.
"We're still in this game - India have only got a 50-run lead, so it's really important that we come out tomorrow, give everything we can, and take those early wickets. Any nick, we've got to make sure we take it so that this lead doesn't get too big.
"We stuck at it really well with the ball today, I thought. At no point did we give up, and I don't think you can ask any more of the lads than that.
"We're playing against some very good players, who are in good form, and so sometimes you need to just take your hat off to them - they built some really good partnerships and made it hard for us to bowl at them.
"The way they played the spinners was very good - a mixture of patience and aggression. It's a good indication of how to bat on this wicket; when you get opportunities to score, you need to take them.
"The pitch is still playing pretty well - there is obviously the odd ball though that is gripping and turning big, but you can see that when you get in, you can make it look quite easy, like they did.
"So it's really important that when we come to have a bat, we remember what works, and put that to use. We need to be greedy if we get in and hopefully we can still set up an exciting finish to this Test."
Root picked up two wickets in eight overs with the ball - the same amount of overs bowled by Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes, leading to suggestions that England got their team selection wrong on the spin-friendly Mumbai surface, but Root disagrees.
"It was nice to get on today and make a contribution," he said. "Throughout the tour we've been playing three spinners, so there has not really been any point in me bowling when you've got three genuine spinners in your side.
"In hindsight, you could say four seamers on this wicket is too many. But you have to judge the surface on the day of the game, and the days leading up to it, and the history of this ground suggests you normally get bounce and carry out of it.
"Our seam attack is a strength of ours. Unfortunately it has not quite worked out so far in this game, but who knows what's going to happen second innings?
"It's probably going to be more spinner-friendly, as it has shown so far, but we've got to work with what we've got."
Live Test Cricket
Watch day four of the fourth Test between India and England, in Mumbai, from 3.45am on Sunday, Sky Sports 2.
