Learn from Root on how to rotate strike, says Brook ahead of Lord’s decider against India
London, July 18 (IANS) England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook has urged his batters to learn from the rock-solid Joe Root, especially on how to rotate strike, ahead of their ODI series decider against India, to be played at Lord’s on Sunday.
Root hit a match-winning 99 not out in Cardiff on Thursday to help England level the three-game series. The victory was a massive relief for England, who have been dismal in their ODI results of late, and raised concerns about their hyper-aggressive batting style ahead of next year’s 50-over World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.
“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,” Brook said to reporters in the pre-match press conference.
Asked if the current setup had become overly dependent on Root in ODIs, Brook did not shy away from stating the reality. “Root has been such a good player for so many years, and it’s awesome to have him on the side. We have probably depended on him quite a little bit in recent times in ODI cricket and Test cricket.
“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 said.
Beyond the white-ball challenges, English men’s cricket remains in a state of flux. While Brendon McCullum continues to coach the white-ball squads, he was recently sacked from his role as Test coach following a 2-1 series loss against New Zealand.
Responding to what the red-ball side requires from their next coaching appointment, 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.”
–IANS
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