Ahead of the second Test against India, England skipper Joe Root has defended his under-fire players, saying that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has hampered the continuity of the team but no one can question its work ethics.

His comment comes after England’s batting line-up failed to make a mark in the Test series opener at Trent Bridge. Except for Root (64 and 109), none of the batsmen managed to touch the 40-run mark.

See Also: Chris Silverwood issues warning to England’s struggling top-order ahead of 2nd Test

While the hosts were bowled out for 183 in their first innings to concede a 95-run lead to India, they posted 303 in the second essay thanks to Root’s century.

The match, however, ended in a draw with rain abandoning the final day’s play.

After the game, English batsmen received flak for their abysmal outing with former captain Geoffrey Boycott slamming them for showing lack of patience and technique.

"You see the guys put in the work time and time again. One thing you can never question about anyone in this team is their work ethic. I think everyone throws everything into their practice and does everything they can to make themselves better," Root said during the virtual press-conference.

"COVID has had quite an effect on our consistency in backing up teams, whether that be workload through having to rotate players or through the conditions, it's been a difficult thing to get continuity in that respect."

Boycott had said bowlers only need a few good balls to get rid of the England batsmen as focusing too much on white-ball cricket has ruined their technique.

"In Test cricket, it's a fine margin, it's a fine balance. Of course you need a strong technique to be able to trust your defence, but you also need to be able to apply pressure on occasions," Root said.

The captain said rotating strike would be the key to success for his under fire batsmen.

"It's about getting off the strike, I think that's a really important thing, to rotate the strike, get down the other end," Root said ahead of the second Test at Lord's beginning on Thursday (August 12).

"Just rotate, we don't need to necessarily go out and crush it to the boundary ropes once- twice an over, but it is important to get that balance between scoring, defending and managing certain passages of play.

"So it's certainly something that we discussed as a team, how we can do that better. Ultimately, it's about managing out on the field, not just doing it well in practice," he further remarked.

Spin all-rounder Moeen Ali, who played his last Test on home soil during the 2019 Ashes, has been included in the England squad ahead of the second Test.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of him. He’s a wonderful cricketer across the formats. He has the ability to go out there and win games with bat and ball. He’s proven in the past,” Root said.

“He plays best cricket when he’s enjoying it and he’s full of confidence. I’m quite happy to give him a huge amount of responsibility if he gets a chance to play, because he responds extremely well to that. He is a leader within the dressing room, has a great personality, drags people with him so it'd be great to have him back again.”

The hosts may also recall Haseeb Hameed, who hit a century (112) in the warm-up fixture against the Indians last month.

“One thing I’d say about Has (Haseeb) is that ever since the first day I met him I’ve been extremely impressed with him as a person, with his maturity as a young man...,” Root said.

“I think that served him really well during a difficult spell in his career and now you’re seeing him come into some really good form. I think his game has grown as well, he's added shots to what is a very strong defence and has turned himself into a brilliant player. His work ethic is outstanding.

“If he gets an opportunity I’m sure he’ll look to take it with both hands and try to make the position his own in this team,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)