'Playing like that in Indian conditions incredible', Stokes hails Root
What's the story
England all-rounder Ben Stokes lavished praise on captain Joe Root for his incredible innings against India.
The latter slammed his fifth Test double-ton as the visitors posted 555/8 on Day 2 of the ongoing Test in Chennai.
Even the dashing all-rounder was nearing his 11th hundred, however, he got dismissed on 82 eventually.
Here is more on the same.
Praise
Root is in incredible form at the moment: Stokes
Root went on to slam a historic double-century in Test cricket, his second in less than a month.
Praising him, Stokes said, "It's a bit frightening when you're at the other end and he makes it look so easy. At the moment he's in incredible form, and to play as well as he's done in conditions that are alien to English batsmen is phenomenal."
Records
A look at the records broken by Root
Smashing an astonishing 218, Root became the only player to score a double-hundred in 100th Test.
He is also the first English batsman to reach Test double-hundred with a six.
The 30-year-old has achieved the highest individual score (218) for a visiting batsman at Chepauk (beating Dean Jones' 210).
This has also become the highest individual score by an England captain in India.
Information
Root was involved in two 100+ stands
During the England innings, Root was involved in two 100+ partnerships. He shared a 200-run stand with opener Dominic Sibley after Rory Burns and Daniel Lawrence departed. Later on, Root stitched a 124-run partnership with Stokes.
Stokes
Stokes smashed a blistering 82 upon his return
All-rounder Stokes fell short of his ton, but his counter-attacking innings (82) grabbed the eyeballs.
He also completed 1,000 runs against India in international cricket.
Notably, he is featuring in his first Test after a break of six months.
Prior to this, he played in the first Test against Pakistan (in August) before opting out to attend his ailing father.
Approach
Stokes opens up on his decisive approach
Speaking on his innings, Stokes said, "I'm making sure I'm either getting right down the wicket or getting right back."
"Today, initially, it was a typical subcontinent wicket, but Nadeem got a couple to kick out of the rough, and I said to myself, I'd rather get caught deep square taking the attack to him rather than get caught short leg being defensive."