One of the highlights of the second Test between India and England was the visiting players channeling their aggression to script a famous 151-run victory at Lord’s.
While Virat Kohli and company managed to get under the skin of England team, the hosts failed to rile up the opposition players despite regular attempts.
With Team India leading the series 1-0, one can expect more aggression from them for the remaining three Tests but England skipper Joe Root said his side has learnt its lessons from the previous game and will look to avoid unnecessary conversations.
“There’s the theatre and everything else surrounding the game. We’ve got to make sure that we play the game how we want to play and we look after that as best as we can, and not get too distracted or drawn into anything that’s not honest,” Root said in a virtual press conference ahead of the third Test at Headingley, starting on Wednesday (August 25).
“We’ve got to be genuine to ourselves, genuine to how we are as individuals and how we are collectively and be as good as we can, the way that we go. Virat’s team will play how they play, I just want us to go out and be the best version of ourselves.”
Root once again acknowledged that tactical blunders cost his side the Lord’s Test.
“I think there were always conversations you always try to find one percenters in ways you can deal with different situations.
“We’ve done some good learning off the back of the last game I think we could have managed certain areas differently, me as the captain, we could have gone about things slightly differently.
“We have got three massive games to play in this series, there’s a lot to play for. And you know we’re desperate to bounce back strongly,” he said.
England have made several changes to their squad for the third Test. The likes of Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley have been axed while Dawid Malan has received a Test recall after three years.
Root expects Malan to make an instant impact as he said: “Dawid obviously offers a lot of experience in that top three, not necessarily in terms of experience in Test cricket, but he has played a huge amount of international cricket now, he’s dealt with pressure situations.”
“He’s played a lot of red ball cricket over the course of his career and he’s also had great successes in a massive series in Australia and was our leading scorer out there, so we know that he’s capable of big things.”
Meanwhile, speedster Mark Wood has been ruled out of the Headingley Test due to a shoulder injury. His injury has opened the doors for Lancashire seamer Saqib Mahmood’s Test debut.
“I feel Saqib couldn’t be in a better place to potentially play Test cricket, you look at how he’s progressed over the last couple of years across all formats.
“But the opportunities, he’s taken this year when I’ve been given them he’s been exceptional,” said Root.
England batsmen are having a tough time in the ongoing Test series against India. Expect for Root (64 and 109), none of the batsmen managed to touch the 40-run mark in the drawn first Test at Trent Bridge while the story was somewhat similar in the second game.
England had to bat less than two sessions to save the Lord’s Test but they failed to do so as India’s pace-quartet demolished their batting line-up, bowling them out for 120 in 51.5 overs. The English captain was the lone warrior in the second Test as well, scoring 180 not and 33 across the two innings.
Joe Root is confident that the under-fire batting line-up will come good at Leeds.
“The most important thing about batting in Test cricket revolves around big partnerships, when two guys back for a period of time the game can look completely different. And that’s got to be our focus as a batting group.
“Starting your innings in England can be the hardest thing to do.”
Reflecting on his brilliant run of form, Root attributed his success to the technical changes he made recently.
“Sometimes it’s that old adage if you have to take a little bit of backward step to come forward and feel like reaping the rewards of that and I think I’ve obviously, over a period of time, found myself getting out between 50 and 100.
“I feel I’ve managed those phases little bit better now. Just through a better understanding of what I want to play, what I want to leave. And I suppose, just even more experience within the game.”
(With PTI inputs)
