England Test skipper Joe Root believes that the ongoing Sri Lanka tour is the best opportunity for the Three Lions to show how good they are against spin by performing at their best on the turning surfaces here.

He further asked his English batters to step up in the ongoing five-match One-Day International series and show great fight against the Sri Lankan spinners Akila Dananjaya and Lakshan Sandakan, as he believes that they have all the potential to give a perfect fight at the sub-continent conditions.

Root told reporters ahead of second ODI on Saturday (October 13), “As a team, our record against spin is right up there, if not the best in the world, over the last couple of years. This is another opportunity to show everyone how good we are against spin and to perform well on these surfaces.”

The right-hander further went on explain, “To do that it's important to understand the rhythm of batting here is very different to back home. The way we structure setting a target or chasing one down might be very different to how we go about it at home. The way we approach cricket in ODIs is very different to the last time we toured here (in 2014). The way we naturally play will always put bowlers under pressure, whether that's against seam or spin. We've done it in the majority of places throughout the world, but can we do it here on spinning surfaces?”

Meanwhile, the English man also denied Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal's claim that Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali lack "the mystery" of Dananjaya and Sandakan.

Root signed off by saying, “I think Rash (Rashid) would be a bit disappointed by saying there's no mystery about how he bowls. He has a few tricks in his bag and I'm sure you'll see that on these surfaces. Every bowler you've never faced before is the mystery because you don't know what you're going to get. You can get yourself out by talking yourself out. Most importantly you prepare, watch the footage, see how they operate and go and play accordingly.”

(Input: ESPNCricinfo)