"If you are going to break a world record, you might as well do it in style," said former England captain Nasser Hussain on commentary when Joe Root took a one-handed blinder to dismiss India's Karun Nair on Day 2 of the second Test at Lord's. With that stunning one-handed catch, Root broke India legend Rahul Dravid's world record for most outfield catches in men's Test cricket.
It was Test catch number 211 for arguably one of England's greatest Test batters, who is officially now the world's best catcher in red-ball cricket.
Joe Root: Most outfield catches in Test cricket
211*Joe Root
210 Rahul Dravid
205 Mahela Jayawardene
200 Steven Smith
200 Jacques Kallis
196 Ricky Ponting
Hussain described the moment aptly. England captain Ben Stokes created an awkward angle by slating wide of the crease to give Karun Nair the illusion of the angle. The Indian batter, who was batting pretty well till then, fell for it. He offered a nervous prod. The ball held its line and took the outside edge of Nair's bat and went right between Root at first slip and keeper Jamie Smith.
{{/usCountry}}Hussain described the moment aptly. England captain Ben Stokes created an awkward angle by slating wide of the crease to give Karun Nair the illusion of the angle. The Indian batter, who was batting pretty well till then, fell for it. He offered a nervous prod. The ball held its line and took the outside edge of Nair's bat and went right between Root at first slip and keeper Jamie Smith.
{{/usCountry}}To be fair to Smith, it was slightly closer to Root. But it was to his wrong side and dying. Even for a brilliant slip fielder like Root, it was going to take some catching. But as Hussain said, you might as well break the world record with a stunner.
Root dived to his left, reaching as low as he could with his left hand to catch the ball inches above the ground. Nair stood his ground. The umpires, too, weren't completely sure, so they sent the ball upstairs. The third umpire watched replays from a few angles to confirm that Root had his finger underneath the ball.
It was an important breakthrough for England as Nair (40) was looking solid in his partnership with KL Rahul after India lost opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) in the second over of the day.
There was a huge cheer from the capacity crowd at Lord's. This was the second time on Day 2 that they stood up for Root. Very early on Friday, they sent a loud applause when Root streakily hit the first ball of the day from Jasprit Bumrah for a boundary to complete his 37th Test century.