Test captain Joe Root admitted that England is “very very lucky” to have James Anderson and Stuart Broad as their treasure, but hinted that the duo’s days as a pair may be over now, revealing they are looking to move on from their record-breaking new-ball partners in the format.
Anderson and Broad are the leading wicket-takers for England in the history of Test cricket, but the hosts have opted to rotate the duo in the ongoing three-match Test series against the West Indies.
While Broad was omitted from the first Test, Anderson regained his place, but for the second Test England rested the Lancashire pacer for the former white-ball captain – which has fueled speculations that whether the days of two playing together ended or England started looking beyond the duo.
Reacting to the same, Root said England are trying to not play Broad and Anderson together all the time to make sure they are playing as long as possible, but said it would be stupidity to write them off, warning the critics to write-off the duo at their own peril.
Root said on Thursday (July 16): “With Stuart and Jimmy, trying to maximize their careers is really important to make sure they are playing for as long as possible. If that has to be slightly different from how it has been over the last few years, then we might have to think outside the box and not play them in every game or not play them together all the time.”
The skipper further explained, “That is not to say it won’t happen again. They are two world-class performers and we are very, very lucky to have them. I think to wish that away early or to push them to one side would be stupid, I really do. [But] I think we’ve got to deal with it well and be smart with it and we will find opportunities to play other guys, too.”
Noteworthy, Anderson and Broad have shared 883 wickets from 116 Tests together for England, but now they exploring more options, looking at Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, and Ollie Robinson to replace the legendary pacers in the future.
(With PTI Inputs)
