Joe Root, England’s skipper has hinted at the inclusion of spinner Dom Bess for the 4th Test against India and said that the youngster is “definitely” a more talented bowler than him.
Joe Root created a world record with the ball after registering the best bowling figures by a spinner in Test cricket in the 3rd match against India. His 5 for 8 broke the previous record (5 for 9) held jointly by Australians Tim May and Michael Clarke against West Indies (Adelaide Test 1992/93) and India (Mumbai Test 2004/05) respectively.
Joe Root: Dom Bess Is Certainly In Contention For Selection And He Is A Very Skillful Young Bowler
The England captain had to bowl because there was only one specialist spinner in the team and the wicket had nothing in store for the three pacers playing alongside him.
Ahead of the 4th Test which starts from Thursday, Joe Root has hinted at Dom Bess’s inclusion in the playing XI. The young spinner has been made to sit on the bench for the last two games. Joe Root has reckoned that there was no comparison between the bowling skills of Dom Bess and him.
“If the pitch looks anything like the last one I think Dom will be licking his lips at the opportunity. He is certainly in contention for selection and he is a very skillful young bowler who will be desperate to make his mark if he gets the chance.”
“Dom will see how someone like me had an impact and will be very excited if conditions are the same, There is no comparison between him and me. He is a far more talented bowler and will definitely be above me in the pecking order if he’s in the side,” Root said.
England’s spinner Moeen Ali was sent home despite picking 8 scalps in the only Test as part of England’s rotation policy while spinner Dom Bess wasn’t picked in the last 2 Tests despite modest bowling performance as he picked up 5 scalps in 34 overs in the 1st Test.
Joe Root reckons Dom Bess will return to the side unequivocally if the pitch is like the third Test, which assisted the spinners of both teams so much that the skipper himself had to bowl ahead of the seamers and eventually bagged a five-wicket haul as well.
Despite picking 4 wickets – including those of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli – in the first innings of the first Test at Chennai, Dom Bess was dropped as Moeen Ali came into the line-up. Now with Moeen Ali back to England for rest, Joe Root is confident that Dom Bess will do well when provided with an opportunity.
Joe Root: Team Selection For The 3rd Test Was Wrong As England Didn’t Expect The Surface To Assist Spin That Much
The 30-year-old admitted that the idea of playing 3 pacers in the pink-ball Test and including only one frontline spinner was wrong. Joe Root revealed that the team selection was done on the basis of the last pink-ball Test in India. Notably, in the Day-Night Test between India and Bangladesh in 2019, Indian pacers had scalped all the 19 wickets in the match.
“We got that wrong,’ admitted Root. ‘We read the pitch wrong in terms of the team we selected. We looked at conditions and how the ball behaved in the last pink-ball Test in India. We didn’t expect it to spin so much.”
England spinner Jack Leach picked 16 scalps overall in 3 Tests averaging 26.75. But Indian spinners were far better. 3rd Test’s Man of Match Axar Patel took 11 wickets in both the innings combined as he is on a dream run taking 18 wickets in his first two Tests averaging a meagre 9.44.
Ravichandran Ashwin, though, is the leading wicket-taker with 24 wickets in 3 Tests. The Indian spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar combined to pick 19 England wickets in the 3rd Test at Ahmedabad.