Joe Root Wants To Return To England T20I Squad Soon
Oct 24, 2019 at 3:36 AM
English Test captain Joe Root has recently missed out the T20I squad for the upcoming away series against the hosts New Zealand. However, Root wants to return to the T20I cricket which he feels the sign of his improvement.
Joe Root is one of the very talented English batsmen. At present, he is the no.7-ranked Test batsman, no.8-ranked ODI batsman and no.18-ranked T20I batsman.
In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Joe Root played a huge role for England to win that tournament. He was England’s leading run-scorer and fifth-most run-scorer in overall in that tournament. The right-handed batsman Root scored 556 runs in 11 innings with an average of 61.77. He hit two centuries and three half-centuries in that tournament.
Root also performed consistently in the Ashes 2019 but he failed to reach the three-figure scores for at least once. He scored 325 runs in 10 innings with an average of 32.50, including four half-centuries.
Since 2018, Root has played seven T20Is. Though he played some good knocks, he also faced quick dismissals in remaining matches. Root scored a total of 150 runs in those seven innings with an average of 25.00, including two ducks.
In the recently announced squads for the New Zealand tour, Root has missed out the T20I squad but has retained his Test captaincy.
For me to get into the T20I side, it will mean that I have to keep getting better – Joe Root
Root feels that the T20I return will indicate his improvement. He is seeing the uncapped 20-year-old Tom Banton as a healthy competitor.
Root recently claimed according to icc-cricket.com, “For me to get into the T20I side, it will mean that I have to keep getting better. If someone like Tom Banton comes in and sets the world alight, I’ve got to try force him out in the limited opportunities I get to play. If that happens, it raises the standard of English cricket in that format. That’s the food chain that cricket is sometimes. You have to be at the top of it otherwise you get swept away and eaten up.”
Joe Root was the third leading run-scorer in the ICC World T20 2016, where England just failed to win the trophy by finishing as the runners-up. He scored 249 runs in six innings (average 49.80), including two half-centuries. Root also scored 54 runs in the final of that tournament.
Mentioning his performances in WT20 2016, Root claimed that the warm-up games were enough to help him to switch in that shorter format.