England captain Joe Root will be playing his 100th Test when he walks out for the toss in Chennai for the first of the four Tests against India. Root, recently led England to a 2-0 Test series win over Sri Lanka in their own yard.
Speaking in a virtual press conference ahead of the first Test, Root spoke about the threats from the Indian team, focusing on the defiant Cheteshwar Pujara. The England captain underlined the importance of Pujara’s wicket and said that England batsmen should learn from him on how to bat long.
"I think, he (Pujara) is a fantastic player. I had (the) pleasure of playing alongside him only a couple of games at Yorkshire and you know to learn from him, speak to about batting and his love of the game, it is really interesting," Root said.
"So, having played against him as well and being at the wrong end of him, making some huge scores and been out there for long periods of time, you know you learn from those kinds of innings. And you have seen his importance, the value that he adds to the Indian team, he is going to be a huge wicket for us, no doubt about that," he added.
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Root also said that England players will have to bat long and see whether they are as mentally strong as Pujara.
"At times, it might be we have to try our patience and play a long game and see if we can be as mentally strong as he is at the crease when we are out there in the field. We know he is a fantastic player and he has got a fantastic record in particular, so it is going to be a great challenge to come up against him," said Root.
Another player that Root spoke about in detail was off-spinner R Ashwin and how he plans to employ his favorite sweep shot to counter his attack.
“I had to find a way to get the ball off the square against any spinners and learning to play the sweep shot was pretty much a scoring option for the large proportion of my junior career. Since then I have tried to develop my game a bit more broadly and worked with some brilliant players and brilliant coaches," added the England captain.
IND v ENG 2021: Joe Root says playing 100th Test in Chennai is very special
Talking about his game plan against R Ashwin, Root said, “I won't look to dominate or defend but just try and play the ball that is delivered. If I stay around for a period of time, I will score some big runs. He has got a great record in India and is probably full of confidence for that series.
I have played against him before and scored some runs and he has got the better of me a couple of times and it will be a little battle between the Test match. The contest that you want to get the better off.”
Joe Root also said that he keeps track of what Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson are doing in order to learn and improve. Root, along with the three cricketers are termed as the big 4 of the modern-day batting greats.
He said, "Obviously they are three leading players in the world and I try and learn from them. It is silly not to learn how they go about their innings, control passages of play, manage their own game, and keep evolving all the time."
(PTI inputs)
