English skipper Joe Root on Thursday recalled his batting experience with Kevin Pietersen on his debut Test way back in 2012 in Nagpur and said that he was not able to stop smiling.
Joe Root’s will lead England in the four-match Test series against India starting 5th February as the visitors are also scheduled to play 3 ODIs, and 5 T20Is matches against the hosts.
With England’s first Test match against India, Joe Root is all set to join the elite group of English players who have played 100 Tests for the country as he will become just the 15th Englishman in 144 years of Test cricket to have appeared in a hundred matches.
IND v ENG 2021: Joe Root says playing 100th Test in Chennai is very special
Reflecting on his debut Test Joe Root recalled his experience of batting with Kevin Pietersen and said that he was not able to stop smiling.
"I think walking out for the first time wearing an England shirt would be the proudest moment for me in my career so far. I look back walking out to bat for the first time, I see Kevin Pietersen at the other end, he was someone I watched right from the very start, I was not able to stop smiling. I am still living the dream, but this would be the one thing that stands out," Joe Root said during a virtual press conference on Thursday.
Speaking on Zak Crawley, who has been ruled out for the first two Tests against India due to an injury on his right wrist, Root said that was really frustrating for everyone around England contingent and added that they have a number of different players who can bat at different positions.
IND v ENG 2021: Zak Crawley ruled out of first two Tests with injured wris
"It is really frustrating, really frustrating for Zak in particular. Walking out of the changeroom, he slipped over and landed on his wrist. We have to look at things from a selection point of view, everything is on the table in terms of selection.
“We will look at the conditions and the pitch again to have clarity heading into the game. We can go with a number of options, that is the exciting part for us, we have a number of different players who can play at different positions," he said.
Keeping Crawley’s injury in mind Joe Root was asked a question which read “Whether he would promote himself to number three in the first Test?” replying to which Root said that team management will look at the balance of the side.
“There are a number of different things, we have a number of players to choose from. We look at the balance of the side and those things as well. We will discuss things over the course of today." Root said.
Joe Root further expressed his delight in the return of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer to the squad. He also saw the positive side of India's victory Down Under, saying that it gives confidence to them to win away from home.
"It is always great to have Ben back around the squad, we all know he is going to give everything for this team. So, very excited to have both Ben and Archer back around the squad.
“I think all of the sides will look at the series between India and Australia to take some confidence. Huge credit to India for winning in Australia, but teams will see that and they will realize it is possible to win matches away from home. We should embrace this challenge," he concluded.
(ANI Inputs)
