Three steps up, Joe Root now a stride away from th

Three steps up, Joe Root now a stride away from the summit

At 3.40 PM, the scheduled Tea break, Joe Root climbed the steps up to the Old Trafford pavilion, 34 of them, which he largely took two at a time. Helmet in hand, head down, he moved with ease. Purposeful, but unhurried. The stairway this week hasn't been the easiest to deal with. Ask Jasprit Bumrah, who rolled his ankle on them. Ask Rishabh Pant or Ben Stokes, who struggled up them, clinging to the rail, one with a fracture, the other with a cramp.

But Root didn't stumble. He simply shimmied up them, and the crowd applauded him through the course of his ascent. At the top, just before disappearing into the dressing room, he gently placed his helmet and gloves at the entrance, a quiet punctuation mark to a statement innings that served to indicate there was more to come.