Root's hunger bodes well for England

Of all the revealing moments in Joe Root's innings, it was perhaps the irritated swish of the bat upon his dismissal that was most revealing.

We have become accustomed to Root displaying frustration in such circumstances. He came into this game having converted just one of his previous eight scores of 50 into a century at Test level, after all, and having suffered what he described as "two poor dismissals" at Lord's.

But this time he had scored 254. He had batted for more than 10 hours. He had registered the 15th highest score in England's Test history and the third highest by an England No. 3. He had shown he had learned all the lessons from Lord's - his first Test in his new role of No. 3 - and batted his side to a dominant position. You would think he might feel quite pleased with himself.

But instead he was frustrated. Frustrated at the manner of his dismissal and frustrated to tear himself away from the fun.

Such an insatiable desire for runs bodes well for Root and England. It suggests that, after a phase of his career where he has been content to produce attractive cameos and fluent half-centuries, he is developing the hardness to complement his talent. The discipline to maximise it and make it count. The hunger that has been a characteristic of the most successful - not necessarily the most talented - batsmen in Test history.

Root knows that scores of 70 rarely win Tests. They might on occasions but, generally, on surfaces such as this, they are insufficient.

He knows, too, that this team need more from him. They are a bit too flaky, a bit too fragile for him flirt and flicker. He is required to provide substantial contributions.

So, after the setback at Lord's, he returned to the nets and worked on minimising risk. He reminded himself to play straighter, leave more outside off stump and make a point of rolling his wrists on any pulls or slog-sweeps to ensure the ball was played into the ground. If that meant some strokes brought singles rather than boundaries, that was fine.

"I wanted to nullify those Lord's dismissals from my game," Root said. "That's why I was so revved up when I reached 200. It seemed like reward for all the hard work. It was pleasing to make one count."

Some context is required for this innings. It has come on another disappointingly slow pitch, for sure. But it has also come against a fine attack with Mohammad Amir bowling far better than his figures suggest and a legspinner who is both No. 1 in the Test bowling rankings and who claimed 10-wickets against England in the previous Test on a pitch that offered him little better. Let's not always find reasons to diminish excellence. Brian Lara's two highest scores were made on flat tracks; Matthew Hayden's 380 against a modest attack. This was a fine innings from a special young player. Don't be fooled by how easy he made it look.

It was arguably England's best innings from a No. 3 batsman for almost six years. Perhaps since Jonathan Trott's 168 not out against Australia in Melbourne in late 2010 or maybe his 184 in the famously overshadowed Test against an excellent Pakistan attack at Lord's earlier the same year. By comparison, Nick Compton contributed 296 runs in the seven Tests (13 innings) he played in his second spell in the side as England's No. 3.

The key difference between this England innings and the two at Lord's was not the bowling or the pitch. Neither are as different as the scorecards might suggest. The key difference was the English batting.

While at Lord's England were impatient and ill-disciplined, here they - or at least Root and Alastair Cook - played straighter and left better outside off stump. That drew the sting out of the Pakistan bowlers and exploited the dangers of playing a four-man attack in back-to-back Tests. Root, in particular, did his demanding batting on the first day and reaped the rewards on the second.

He has so many strokes - Grant Flower, the Pakistan batting coach, described him as "brilliant" after play - that he will rarely be bogged down. And, if there were times he seemed to settle for accumulation rather than savagery, that should probably be interpreted as maturity. Sachin and Bradman didn't always thrash boundaries; they appreciated the value of low risk, long-term batting. Just about all the greats have.

"He made it look simple, left a lot and played the patience game," Flower said. "And he has great shots to go with that."

Odd though it sounds, Root's problem in recent months may have been that his form was almost too good. With so much time and so many strokes, his issues have come more with choosing his options rather than being dismissed by deliveries too good for him. In this innings at least - and as he pointed out, he is only three innings into his new role so it is too early to make conclusions - he restricted himself to safer strokes and high-percentage options. James Vince could learn much from watching Root's development.

The identities of those involved the last time two of England's top three made centuries in a Test innings is revealing. They were Nick Compton and Trott (and New Zealand were the opposition in early 2013); two men who focused on crease occupation first and fluency second. For the first time in some months, England's top-order took a similar approach in this innings with Root showing that he was quickly adapting to the differing demands of batting at No. 3.

Trott always had some reservations about batting at No. 3. He felt that No. 4 was his natural position - he continues to bat there for Warwickshire - and felt that coming in a place higher up the order made far more difference that is generally appreciated. It forced him, he believed, to leave more balls and bat with a more defensive mindset. Having done it for a while, he was no longer able to rediscover the fluency.

Maybe it was the same with Root here? Having made an effort to tighten up on day one - to leave more balls and play straighter - he struggled to find another gear when the time came to accelerate. He wasn't bogged down, exactly, but he could not match the fluency of Chris Woakes in the morning or Jonny Bairstow in the afternoon.

But if the new Root is a slightly less flamboyant spectacle, it will be a price worth paying for England. For too long - since Trott's decline and barring Gary Ballance's bright start - England have been reliant upon their long middle-order to help them to reasonable totals.

Root's promotion promises to stop the rot before it starts and provide the middle order with the protection it requires to flourish. And this innings, coming after one Test where he struggled to adapt to the different demands of the No. 3 position, suggests he is learning fast. It's still premature to call him a great batsman, but he may be the closest thing to an English-born one since Graham Gooch and David Gower. And, by the end of his career, we may well have to go much further back than that to find his equal.