ENG vs IND 2018: Edgbaston a fabulous advert for Test cricket, says Joe Root

Root also praised his side for coming out as winners from the closely contested encounter.

Joe Root (Getty)

After winning the closely contested encounter against India, England Captain Joe Root has said that the first Test in Edgbaston was a fantastic game to be a part of and that it was overall "a fabulous advert for Test cricket".

England won the cliffhanger by just 31 runs and Joe Root believes that to come out on top in the opening game of the five-match series was very important for his side. 

Speaking after the match, Root was quoted by PTI as, “It’s up there. It is a fabulous advert for the game of cricket, isn’t it? Anyone that says it’s dead can just come and watch this on repeat. What a game! I’m still trying to soak it all in, but it was a fabulous team performance.”

At the start of Day 4, India needed another 84 runs to win the game with India's best batsman Virat Kohli still batting. They had to get one past India's skipper and Root thinks this motivated his boys further. 

He said, “I spoke to the boys at the start, and said ‘Just go out there with that belief, desire that you have done the previous two days in the field’ – and they didn’t disappoint. I couldn’t be prouder of that. That’s all you can ask as a captain … the guys to do as you ask, and under pressure to stay as calm as we did,” 

Praising the young Sam Curran for his Man of the match deserving all-round performance in the game, Root said, “The reason sam’s played is firstly for his performances that he’s put in for surrey. he’s made some big contributions for his county side and a big part of that team.”

“Whenever he’s been around, whenever you watch him operate on the field he has this desire and steeliness within him which, similar to ben, wants to be involved in the big occasions and that obviously suits playing in test match cricket and you’ve seen that throughout this game,” 

Root concluded by pointing out how coming out as winners from this game, will help his side for the rest of the series and said, “That was a fantastic performance to come into his second test match under pressure, against the number one test team in the world and play like that. as a side going into a five-match series like that should fill him with a huge amount of confidence for the rest of this series,”

(Inputs from PTI)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 05 Aug, 2018

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