Warning for India - England hard to beat at home, says Joe Root
Joe Root said that England, who have lost just one home ODI series (against Australia) since the 2015 World Cup, have the ability to make things difficult for Virat Kohli’s India in the three-match series beginning Thursday.
England’s Joe Root said that India will pose a different challenge for the home side than Australia and the upcoming three-match ODI series should serve as a marker for their preparation for the 2019 World Cup. (ENGLAND vs INDIA FULL COVERAGE)
Speaking ahead of the first ODI at Trent Bridge, Root said: “India have been a really strong team in this format for a long time, they won last time they came over here. I know it was a very different side they played against, but it is a really good marker to see where we’re at. It’s a great opportunity for us to play against a strong Indian team that will pose different challenge to what Australia posed at the start of the summer, their bowling attack for example.
“It’s an exciting time, hopefully we can play some really strong cricket and I’m sure it will make for some really good viewing.”
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India brushed aside England’s challenge in the Twenty20 Internationals, winning the three-match series 2-1, but Eoin Morgan’s side is a stronger in ODIs and has lost just one home series (against Australia) since its disastrous 2015 World Cup campaign. Root expressed confidence in England’s ability to make things difficult for Virat Kohli’s side in ODIs.
“I think it is an important series. We have played some really strong cricket in one day format and India are right up there as one of the best one day sides in the world. They present different challenges to the ones we have recently faced but we know that if we play to our potential and keep learning and improving we will be a difficult side to play especially at home in these conditions,” he said.
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Asked whether England are fancying their chances of another record feat at their favourite hunting ground, the Test captain said that it’s all about winning the series. “I think it is dangerous to start thinking too far ahead. One thing that generally we have been good at last couple of years is assessing things early on and planning an innings from there. It might be the case it might not but we try and win this series and do everything we can to come out of an impressive white ball summer.”
Personally, Root will be under pressure to prove whether he has the game for limited overs. Sandwiched between a highly talented group of dashers, the classical batting style of Root is not seen as an automatic. The star batsman had to face the embarrassment of getting dropped from the final Twenty20 game at Bristol.
“I fully understood the decision. It can’t have been an easy one for them to make but that is part and parcel of having a really strong squad. You have to take that. It is always difficult being left out and you never like that as a player,” he concluded.