Root takes the hard road to renewed success

Joe Root feels a session batting on a road inside the Chepauk stadium had helped him rediscover his fluency ahead of the fifth Test in Chennai.

Keen to gain some practice time after feeling his footwork was "all over the place" in the previous Test in Mumbai, Root turned up the day before the match to find that the net facilities at the ground were not fit for use following the cyclone that hit the city in recent days.

When the contingency plan - a session on the hard tennis courts at the stadium - also had to be abandoned due to the storm damage, Root decided that the road was the next best option.

So while the conditions for his 30 minutes of throwdowns from batting coach Mark Ramprakash were not ideal, he felt the experience - one that was reminiscent to his youth playing in parks and garden and on roads - helped relax him and remind him of the simple pleasures of the game.

"My feet were all over the place against the seamers in Mumbai," Root said, "so I wanted to iron a few things out.

"We tried to do it away from the cameras just in case it went pear-shaped. We were kindly helped by a few of the local guys and managed to get a few things sorted.

"It was nice to have that peace of mind going into the game, having worked on it. Something just clicked into place.

"To go back to being a kid again and remember what it's like to play on a street with your mates, and get those reasons why you love playing and why you first got into cricket, to park all the pressure and think about the game … that was nice.

"It did just relax me, and maybe that's all it needed."

Root didn't look especially relaxed when he was given out, though. He kicked a water bottle and gave the foam boundary rope a whack with his bat after he was adjudged to have been caught behind after a review by India.

Root was not only under the impression that he did not hit the ball - he later admitted that technology proved him wrong - but was frustrated at missing out on a century. It was the 13th time he has reached fifty in Test cricket in 2016, but only on three occasions has he gone on to make a century. Despite becoming the highest Test run-scorer in the world this year during the innings, his dismissal left him 11 runs short of the England record for most runs in a calendar year held by his boyhood hero, Michael Vaughan.

"I probably was a bit childish with my reaction as I walked off. But playing international cricket, you're going to be disappointed when you feel you've been hard done by - even if you haven't.

"I was convinced I didn't hit it. Obviously the technology suggests otherwise, but it is bitterly disappointing when you're convinced out there that there's nothing.

"If you look at the wicketkeeper's reaction, he's not interested either. I must have got a fine edge on it, but I didn't hear a noise and didn't feel anything on the bat.

"I think initially [my reaction] was from feeling like I didn't hit it. It went upstairs and I went up to Mo and said 'I'll be fine, I've not got anywhere near it'. Then you see the spike (on DRS) … it was more disbelief than anything else, I suppose.

"But you sort of just have to suck it up, and put faith in the rest of the guys. I hope we can make that 500 score and put India under pressure.

"I'd be lying if I was to say I wasn't frustrated about missing out on a century. But I feel my game's in good order and I don't think I'd have done anything differently if I had my time again.

"I'd have still played the same shot. I'm not going to change the way I'm playing. It's just about being better at it."