Joe Root forgets England’s toils and refinds secret to batting immortality | Jonathan Liew

The put-upon captain might have faded away in his fifth year in the job but instead he has played some of his greatest innings

If you wanted, you could still probably pick a few holes. He edged a few through the slips. He got bogged down a little in the 90s, and then again in the 150s. He didn’t hit a single six. Does an innings even still count these days if it isn’t accompanied by a big flashing bar along the bottom of the screen screaming “OH YEAH”? Most unforgivably of all, Joe Root’s unbeaten 180 against India lasted almost nine hours. Good luck fitting that into BBC Two’s teatime schedule.

Related: Masterful Joe Root hauls England back into contention with India

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