Star England batter Joe Root was happy with his role in the England team after being relieved of captaincy duties, and he prefers to keep things simple in life. The 33-year-old struggled to make an impact with the bat against India’s quality bowling attack.
Following England’s series defeat to the West Indies, Joe Root stood down as red-ball captain, leaving the team with only one win in their last 17 tests in his tenure. Ben Stokes was then picked to captain his team in the longest format, with New Zealand great Brendon McCullum tasked with improving England’s fortunes in the red-ball cricket.
Speaking on Jiocinema, Joe Root claimed that he is no longer involved in team meetings and wants to spend more time with other players during his time with the England team. He believes that it is vital to enjoy and simplify life.
“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,” Joe Root said
England were in disarray in Tests before appointing a new captain and head coach. The appointments paid off, and England’s fortunes altered in no time. Fast forward to 2024, when England has yet to lose a Test series since Ben Stokes succeeded Joe Root as captain.
Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli Have Got The Ability To Get Big Scores – Joe Root
Joe Root is well aware of the challenge offered by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, recognizing their experience and influence in the Indian team over the years, and feels that it is important for the English side to limit their effect early in the series, reducing the possibility of them scoring the kind of large scores that have traditionally overwhelmed England.
“You mentioned two of the greats 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. 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,” Joe Root added.
Rohit Sharma has been struggling with his form in red-ball cricket, beginning with an away two-match series against South Africa and continuing with the England series, while Virat Kohli had a decent outing with the bat against the Proteas before deciding to sit out the first two games against England and would like to return for the final three games of the series before the IPL.