After reaching his maiden century of the current Test series against India on Friday, veteran England batsman Joe Root surprised the cricket community by inventing a 'pinky finger celebration.' On the first day of the 4th Test, Root helped the visitors recover from serious danger. The television cameras saw him raising his little finger and appreciating Ben Stokes' praise in the Ranchi changing room.
Following the spectacular spell of debutant bowler Akash Deep on Friday morning, England's top order collapsed in the first session. But Joe Root took it upon himself to offer his team the vital calmness. The 33-year-old, who played orthodox cricket, helped England advance from 112 for 5 at lunch to 302 for 7 at Stumps on Day 1 with his prodigious knock of 106 off 226 balls.
Joe Root's series had been very unremarkable overall, but he responded to his detractors with a huge hundred in the match that Ranchi had to win.
The 'pinky finger' celebration is not new for Root; he and teammate Ben Stokes performed a similar dance during the 2022 Test match in Chennai against India. The party that Stokes and Root partake in is reportedly influenced by Austin Butler's biography of the well-known American singer Elvis Presley.
One of Presley's numerous signature stage gestures was pointing out his pinky finger, a peculiarity that the biopic also emphasized. Before the aforementioned Test match against India in 2022, Stokes is reported to have seen the movie and the all-round player was mesmerized by Presley's gesture.
The current England captain was inspired by this to begin this 'Rockstar' celebration with the goal of making his team the real performers in the game.
After a protracted period of poor hitting form, Root's century left Ben Stokes largely content. Before the Ranchi Test, Root had only scored 77 runs in his six innings, but both Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had supported him.
England will receive much-needed confidence boosts from Root's exploits as they approach Day 2 of the fourth Test. This is being done as they seek to bounce back from their loss in Rajkot and keep their prospects of avoiding losing a series for the first time since the Bazball era alive.
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