England head coach Brendon McCullum has expressed support for Joe Root amidst the batter’s challenges in the initial two matches of the five-Test series against India. Brendon McCullum defended Root’s shot in the fourth innings in Vizag, explaining that sometimes things don’t go as planned.
Joe Root faced criticism for his shot selection during the fourth innings of the second Test against India in Vizag. His dismissal for 16 off 10 deliveries, attempting a slog over mid-wicket, was deemed ‘reckless’ by former cricketer Darren Gough.
Joe Root is a world class player- Brendon McCullum
McCullum defended Root’s shot, explaining that it was intended to push the field back rather than as a reckless attempt. Despite Root’s struggles, McCullum expressed confidence in his ability to perform well in the remaining three Tests of the series.
Speaking to Telegraph the England head coach stated,
“He’s a world-class player and as good as any player England has ever seen. His method in the second innings, whilst people will look to the dismissal, he was trying to get the field back so he could milk them,”
“It is the bravery you have to take at times and sometimes you get out doing it but that’s just the way the game rolls. There is no doubt from our point of view in that approach. There are three Tests left, still an opportunity to score a whole s–t-ton of runs,”
McCullum expressed hope for the swift recovery of the players affected by the virus, aiming for their availability in time for the third Test in Rajkot, scheduled to commence on February 15th.
“We had a number of guys who were ill in the Test too and whether it was a virus or not we’re not sure. Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley in particular too but they did not want to shirk it. We will never use that as an excuse but hopefully that will subside in the next little while and we will see where Leachy sits for the next one,”
Jack Leach’s absence in the second Test in Vizag led to the debut of Shoaib Bashir. The 20-year-old made a decent start to his Test career, securing four wickets in the match, with Rohit Sharma being his first scalp in Test cricket.
India clinched victory by 106 runs, squaring the series 1-1. England’s pursuit of 399 in the fourth innings of the Vizag Test fell short as they reached 292, with Zak Crawley contributing the highest score of 73.
“His knee is pretty bad…, It is still pretty inflamed “- Brendon McCullum on Jack Leach
McCullum added that Jack Leach’s knee remains inflamed, indicating that he is unlikely to feature in the third Test. The 42-year-old said,
I don’t really know [how the injury is] because he has been a crook. His knee is pretty bad and it was remarkable he got through what he did in the first Test match. It is still pretty inflamed and he is back at the hotel pretty crook.”
Jack Leach sustained a knee injury during the first Test in Visakhapatnam, where he bowled 26 overs in the first innings and 10 overs in the second innings as England secured a victory by 28 runs.