Former Indian cricketer and commentator Gautam Gambhir said that Joe Root's form has inflicted the most harm upon England's campaign in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
The 2011 World Cup winner described Root as the 'most damaging thing' for England's batting lineup at the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023. Gambhir’s comments came after India almost confirmed the defending champions’ exit from the CWC 2023 with a 100-run win in Lucknow.
Notably, Root was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah for a golden duck in Lucknow, and it led to a flurry of wickets as England eventually bowled out for just 129 runs.
Gautam Gambhir was quoted as saying by Star Sports: “If you see England’s batting lineup, apart from Joe Root, all the other guys want to play aggressive cricket. It is the form of Joe Root that has been the most damaging thing for this batting lineup because this entire batting lineup revolves around him.”
Root has so far managed only 175 runs in 6 matches at 28.16 in the World Cup 2023.
Gambhir signed off by saying, “He was that anchor and glue who could bat from one end and the rest of the guys could actually play the way they wanted to. The moment Root hasn’t delivered, everyone gets exposed. Not a lot of guys have that ability to absorb the pressure of playing against the seaming and swinging balls.”
Notably, England's next matches in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 are against Australia and Netherlands, which will be played in Ahmedabad and Pune on November 4 and 8 respectively.
England's last match at CWC 2023 is against Pakistan on 11 November in Kolkata.
(With IANS/PTI Inputs)
