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[Saba Sports News] England star Test batsman Joe Root recently remarked that his team will be keen to keep India captain Rohit Sharma and ace India batter Virat Kohli quiet throughout the series. After winning the first Test in Hyderabad, England suffered a 106-run defeat in the second game at Vizag, leaving the five-match series tied at one apiece.
In both Tests, England succeeded in dismissing Rohit before he could reach his half-century. Notably, Kohli has yet to feature in the series, having made himself unavailable for the first two Tests due to personal reasons. Whether Kohli will return in the third Test at Rajkot remains a topic of discussion.
Root, speaking to Jio Cinema, emphasized England’s awareness of the capabilities of Rohit and Kohli but expressed the team’s preparedness to dismiss them early in the games to come.
“You mentioned two of the greats (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli) of the modern era. Of course, there’s going to be focus. We know how good they are and they are also very senior within this current Indian batting lineup,” said Root as quoted.
“So, clearly they’ve got a big role to play within this Test team. You want to make sure that you try and get on top of them early. They’ve got the ability to get big scores and we’ve been on the wrong end of that a few times, so it would be nice to try and keep them as quiet as we can throughout the series,” he added.
Root, aged 33 and ranked No. 3 in ICC Test batting rankings, also mentioned that the team’s ritual of formal team meetings no longer exists in their dressing room. Instead, the Bazball side fosters discussions and camaraderie away from the field, promoting authentic interactions around meals and coffee sessions.
“We don’t really do team meetings anymore. That’s one of the great things about how we do all of our conversations away from the game and just that enjoyment and buzz about spending time with each other. We don’t have to sit in a meeting room and I think it’s more authentic and more genuine when you can have it around a dinner table. Having a coffee in the morning or whatever, I think that’s when you do your best learning,” mentioned Root.
Furthermore, he stressed the team’s commitment to continue playing their aggressive brand of cricket regardless of the match outcome, drawing inspiration from past successes and the belief in their abilities. He cited instances like the memorable chase against India in England as evidence of their resilience and determination.
“Regardless, of the result of the game, we’re always going to play how we know. It’s what’s given us success for a good period of time now. It’s what brings the best out of us. We’ve been in similar situations before. The last time we played India in England, in that one-off Test, we were miles behind in the game and we managed to chase that score down. There have been numerous other occasions where we’ve done things that we never thought we could have done before. So, we’ll never stop believing, we’ll never feel like we’re out of the game,” Root concluded.