Joe Root stretches lead at the top of the England Test MVP rankings after another impressive individual display during England’s second Test against India where they suffered final session heartbreak.
With England in a strong position at the start of day five, rearguard action from the Indian tail as well as destructive bowling turned the Test Match on its head, giving the visitors a crucial 1-0 series lead.
Despite defeat the ever-impressive Joe Root continued his superb form with the bat at Lord’s during the Second Test Match. Recording 64 and 109 in the First Test draw, Root reached three figures once again with an imperious, unbeaten 180 in England’s first innings at the Home of Cricket.
Root’s total of 112 MVP points puts him almost 30 points ahead of the next closest challenger and having scored a total of 1,244 runs, including five centuries, at an average of 69.11 in 2021 it’s hard to see anyone competing with the captain at the top of the rankings.
Ollie Robinson is currently Root’s closest contender with a total 84 MVP points from his three Test Match appearances. Opening the attack with James Anderson in the second Test, the 27-year old very much looks the part in Test cricket and has taken 16 wickets in his three appearances.
His 16 wickets taken at 20-a-piece will give Robinson confidence that he can stay as Root’s closest challenger with three Test Matches to play.
The bowling of England’s perennial wicket-taker James Anderson in the first innings was pivotal in limiting a strong first Indian innings. His figures of 5-72 represented another fine performance with the ball as he sits fourth in the rankings with 59 MVP points.
Jimmy’s 31st Test Match five-fer – an incredible achievement for the 39-year old, who also became the third most successful Test bowler of all time after surpassing the amount of Test wickets taken by India’s Anil Kumble.
Mark Wood has moved up to fifth in the Test MVP rankings (54 points) after his impressive second innings bowling display looked to give England the upper hand. on Day 4 his ferocious bowling accounted for the top three Indian wickets. This was a top three that had scored 221 in their first innings, but the Durham seamer dismissed them for only 71.
Moeen Ali was reintroduced to the Test MVP rankings for the first time since the 2019 Ashes. His dismissal of Jadeja in India’s second innings was an absolute peach, his batting in both innings displayed grit and resilience and with consistent selection he will be looking to add to his 16 MVP points.
View the Test MVP Rankings.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest MVP news by following @pcaMVP on Twitter.
