It feels like only yesterday that Joe Root walked out to the middle in Nagpur, met Kevin Pietersen with an upbeat “Eh up, lad, how’s it going?”, and calmly opened his account with a crisply driven three through the covers. England fancied they had a good ’un on their hands, although how good was still to be established.
Twelve years on – a passage of time barely discernible from Root’s boyish looks and sunny disposition – the going, like the answer to that latter question, was great. Just 48 hours after matching Alastair Cook’s tally of 33 Test centuries for England, Root claimed the record outright, his second of the match lighting up a gloomy third day at Lord’s and putting a series win over Sri Lanka within touching distance.
