Joe Root’s captaincy career went off to a dream start. The newly-appointed England Test skipper scored a majestic 190 at the iconic Lord’s before his team steamrolled South Africa by a whopping margin of 211 runs to begin the Joe Root-era in style.
However, Root is under no illusion that the going challenge will get tougher in the coming days and he is looking forward to it.
“There is a little bit of me looking forward to that. I’m fully aware last week was the perfect start and there will be plenty of challenges ahead. It may well be it happens here and we’ll have to see what that brings and how I cope,” said Root on the eve of the second Test against the Proteas.
England has made a tendency of coming up with a poor performance after a brilliant one in the last couple of years and Root will be keen to sort out that inconsistency issue and the England skipper cannot get a better chance than this. South Africa are looking a fragile unit right now with their confidence hammered after the Lord’s mauling, England has a chance to take an unassailable lead in the series.
Moreover, Trent Bridge has been a happy hunting ground for the English pacers. While James Anderson has taken 53 wickets in only eight Tests at this ground, no one can forget Stuart Broad’s eight for 15 against Australia a couple of years ago.
England will go in with the unchanged playing eleven, which means James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Mark Woods and all-rounder Ben Stokes will have the onus on themselves to exploit South Africa’s inexperienced batting lineup and Root is looking forward to seeing his Pacers step up to the challenge,
“It will be nice for them to be wrestling each other to bowl,” said Root of his four-man seam attack.“That might be a challenge in itself — making sure I pick the right time for each to bowl — but that’s part of the art of captaincy. It’s not something I expect to get right straight away but I’ll go with whatever I think best.”
“They were great in understanding when I made certain decisions, especially Jimmy when I took him off after two overs. They were very helpful and they know how to get the best from themselves. There will be times when I need to deal with a grumpy fast bowler but that’s part of the job and I’m quite looking forward to it,” he added.
Root further said that he would continue to bat at number four, as he had done at Lord’s in making 190. Gary Ballance, who has played most of his cricket this season for Yorkshire and the England Lions at number four and five, was used at number three in the first Test and Root is not willing to change the combination.
“I do think that me batting at four is where I get the best out of myself,” Root said. “It was important I made that decision. In terms of Gary, all his success for England has come batting at three. There’s no reason why he can’t go on and do that again.”
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