Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma called time on their Test careers last month, leaving a big void in the Indian team ahead of the marquee England tour that marks the beginning of the new WTC cycle.
Despite their absence, England’s star batter Joe Root is wary of the threat posed by the young Indian side, led by Shubman Gill. India are aiming to win their first Test series on English soil since 2007.
“You can only be excited. These are the series you play for. The opportunities in front of us are epic,” Root told Sky Sports commentator and former teammate Stuart Broad on Wednesday (June 18).
“You know The Ashes is coming and you will be asked about it. People will be trying to relate stuff in the India series to that but you have a job to do against a brilliant team.
“You look at India’s progression as a team across all formats and they have all bases covered - great seam attack, talented batters and a very strong spin attack.
“They are going to compete anywhere in the world but our record at home makes for a fantastic series. We will go into it with confidence but also with a huge amount of respect for what they will bring,” he added.
Root is widely regarded as one of the best in the business, with over 13000 runs to his name in the traditional format. He will look to add to his tally in the upcoming matches against India and Australia.
The Yorkshireman has scored 3,117 runs in the last three years after being replaced as captain by Ben Stokes. Root called it the most enjoyable period of his career.
“Ben did so much for me as my vice-captain, now it’s my turn to give a bit back to him,” he said.
“It was difficult and weird coming back into the team after being leader. I didn’t want to get in Ben’s way or step on his toes but I wanted him to know I was there to support him.
“I knew a big part of that was scoring runs. I wanted to make sure I could affect games with the bat and clearly if I was following his lead as a former captain it sends a strong message to anyone coming into the team or not as established as myself.
“It has become the most fun time of my career. Playing the way we play, the environment that has been created. The job Ben and (head coach) Brendon (McCullum) have done has been fabulous and so much fun has come with it.”
Former England opener Geoffrey Boycott has advised the English players to ditch the Bazball style of batting and apply common sense, but Root said Bazball isn’t the right way to describe it.
“It might not always get reported how it actually is - I don’t think Bazball is the right way to describe it. It has clearly been a big change and is different to how a lot of teams play but there is a lot more method to it than is probably perceived,” he remarked.
The five-Test series between England and India is slated to get underway on June 20 in Leeds, followed by matches at Edgbaston (July 2-6), Lord’s (July 10-14), Old Trafford (July 23-27) and The Oval (July 31-August 4).
