'Dhoni is behind the stumps, Sachin Tendulkar is on the field' - Joe Root recalls the fond memories from his Test debut against India

England and India will be up against each other in the highly-anticipated four-match Test series, starting from February 5 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Playing the first Test of the four-match series will be a memorable moment for England’s Test skipper Joe Root as he will be featuring in his 100th game in the purest format of the game.

Thus far, Root has represented England in 99 Test fixtures scoring a whopping 8249 runs at a stunning average of 49.4 and strike rate of 55. Interestingly, England Test skipper had made his Test debut against India only on December 13, 2012. In his debut match, he had scored 73 runs off 229 deliveries in the first innings and had managed to impress the who’s who of the cricket fraternity with his grit and determination.

Joe, who is placed at fifth position in the Test batsmen’s rankings by the International Cricket Council (ICC), was the joint top-scoring batsman for England in the first innings, with Kevin Pietersen also scoring 73. In response to England’s first-innings total of 330 runs, India scored 326 before England added 352 more runs in the second innings, with the game ending in a draw.

I look around the field and Dhoni is behind the stumps: Joe Root

Apart from producing a match-defining knock in his first innings, the thing that made it more memorable for Joe Root was the presence of legends like former Indian captain MS Dhoni and Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar.

Reminiscing the amazing memories from his Test debut, England skipper Joe Root said in the video uploaded on the official Twitter handle of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), “I just couldn’t stop smiling. I look around the field and Dhoni is behind the stumps, Sachin Tendulkar is on the field as well, who I think made his debut before I was even born. It was a really strange, surreal week really, and something I will always remember fondly,” he added.

England Cricket shared the video of Joe Root’s interview with the caption, “@MSDhoni behind the stumps! @Sachin_RT on the field! @Root66 remembers his Test debut. Full interview #R100T #INDvENG”