London: England skipper Joe Root said Tuesday the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has hampered the continuity of the team. However, no one can question the work ethics of the England players. Joe Root has backed his under-fire players ahead of the second Test against India. The players are facing criticism as most of them failed with the bat in the first Test against India. They were skittled out for 183 in their first innings to concede a 95-run lead to India. Root then scored a second innings hundred as the hosts managed 303 to set India a tricky target. The match, however, ended in a draw after rain washed out the final day.
Among the England batsmen’s critics was former opener Geoffrey Boycott. He slammed the batsmen for showing lack of patience and technique.
“You see the guys put in the work time and time again. One thing you can never question about anyone in this team is their work ethic. I think everyone throws everything into their practice. They do everything they can to make themselves better,” Root said during the virtual press-conference Tuesday.
“Covid has had quite an effect on our consistency in backing up teams. Due to the pandemic it has been difficult to get the continuity going in that respect,” Root added.
Boycott had blamed the temptation of poking at the ball on too much focus on one-day cricket.
“In Test cricket, it’s a fine margin, it’s a fine balance. Of course you need a strong technique to be able to trust your defence, but you also need to be able to apply pressure on occasions,” Root pointed out.
The skipper said rotating strike would be the key to success for his under fire batsmen. “It’s about getting off the strike, I think that’s a really important thing to get down the other end,” informed Root.
“Just rotate, we don’t need to necessarily go out and crush it to the boundary ropes once- twice an over. However, it is important to get that balance between scoring, defending and managing certain passages of play. So it’s certainly something that we discussed as a team. Ultimately, it’s about managing out on the field, not just doing it well in practice,” said the 30-year-old.
Root was England’s most successful batsman in the first Test. He scored 64 and 109 in his two innings in the first Test.
Spin all-ropunder Moeen Ali has been brought back by England to lend balance to the side ahead of the second Test. Moeen hasn’t played a Test on home soil since the 2019 Ashes.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of him (Moeen). He’s a wonderful cricketer across the formats. He has the ability to go out there and win games with bat and ball. He’s proven in the past,” Root said.
“He plays best when he’s enjoying it and he’s full of confidence. I’m quite happy to give him a huge amount of responsibility if he gets a chance to play. He responds extremely well to that. He is a leader within the dressing room, has a great personality, drags people with him so it’d be great to have him back again,” added the England captain.
The hosts may ring in another change by recalling Haseeb Hameed, who scored a century (112) in the warm-up clash against the Indians. “One thing I’d say about Has (Haseeb) is that ever since the first day I met him I’ve been extremely impressed with him as a person, with his maturity as a young man…,” Root said.
The second Test begins Thursday at Lord’s.