England white-ball captain Harry Brook has urged his younger teammates to inject a "little bit of Joe Root" into their collective approach to help stabilize the team's batting unit.
Brook’s suggestion came ahead of the series-deciding third ODI against India, scheduled for July 19 at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Root followed his unbeaten 76 in England's defeat in the first ODI at Edgbaston with a superbly-paced 99 not out as they won in Cardiff to leave three-match series tied at 1-1.
Brook emphasized that Root's recent knocks have served as a blueprint for how England can balance their aggression with smart, situation-based accumulation
"Root has been such a good player for so many years and it's awesome to have him on the side. We probably have depended on him quite a little bit in recent times in ODI cricket and Test cricket,” Brook told reports on Saturday (July 18).
"Hopefully, the boys can learn from what he's doing, myself included, and realise how easy he's making batting look, to be able to just rotate the strike.
"If we can add a little bit of Joe Root into our batting as a collective team, then we'll definitely be in some strong positions," he added.
With England desperate to turn around a rough patch of 16 losses in 20 ODIs, Root's tactical pacing is exactly what the team needs to build momentum ahead of the 2027 World Cup in South Africa.
After scripting England’s win in Cardiff, Joe Root, who has 7,752 ODI runs to his name from 191 matches with 20 centuries, sympathised with younger players coming into the England side as changes to the domestic schedule meant they do not have "the wealth of experience and understanding of 50-over cricket".
However, Brook insisted the very best players are always looking to improve. "I personally think you're always learning. He (Root) has played nearly 200 ODIs, he's still trying to learn, he's still trying to get better as a player and he's England's greatest-ever batter."
England are seeking a new Test coach following Brendon McCullum’s departure. McCullum, who is still in charge of their white-ball teams, relinquished the position after a recent 2-1 series loss against New Zealand.
With England having lost seven of their last nine Tests, Harry Brook was asked in the presser what the team needed from their new red-ball coach.
In reply, Brook said: "That's a good question. That's up for the coach to decide. We want to put ourselves in strong positions as much as we possibly can to be able to dominate the game.
"Test cricket is a long game, five days, and we could probably be slightly more consistent than we have been over the last couple of years."
(With AFP Inputs)
