Joe Root Could be Kevin Pietersen's Replacement in India

Joe Root batted for almost two sessions on the opening day of the first Test between India and England to notch up his 11th Test century. His courage in the middle and tenacity against Indian spinners - Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra made Aakash Chopra compare Root to Kevin Pietersen of the 2012 series in India.

Root scored 124 runs, which included 11 boundaries and a six, before being caught and bowled by Umesh Yadav.

"If England are to do well in this series, they have two very important pillars - Joe Root and Alastair Cook. Root could be the guy replacing Kevin Pietersen in that 2012 historic series, where they came and defeated India after losing the first Test. If England have any hopes of repeating the heroics, they need Joe Root to stand up. He stood up today," Aakash Chopra told NDTV.

Root has already been classified as one of the four best in the world currently alongside Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson.

While the English seem to have learnt their lessons after their capitulation against Bangladesh, Root showed his team the way.

"He did not step out and take the aerial route till he reached his century, he did not sweep either till he was well set in eighties. So he has shown us that there is a different template to score runs against India in India. If you are able to drive off the front foot and manoeuvre the gaps off the back foot, you can still be successful. Today Joe Root was the star," said Chopra.

India let go of the opportunity to mount pressure on the visitors, right in the beginning, by dropping as many as three catches.

"Imagine if they were 1/1 right at the start and Joe Root had walked in with the ball still new and darting around a little, it could have been 25/3 before we realised the Test series had begun," added Chopra.

But with 311 runs on board, England will try to build their advantage on Day 2, and use the platform laid by Root and Ali to get to a score of 500-plus.