IND vs ENG: Joe Root back in action to reinforce England ahead of ODI series
Xtra Time Web Desk: England star Joe Root is all set to make his return in the side against India, scheduled to start on February 6 at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. after missing out ODIs since November 2023.
Root is currently second in the list of most runs for England in ODIs, scoring 6522 runs at an average of 47.60. Hence, his return will be a sigh of relief for England after their disastrous outing in the T20Is.
England found themselves in an uncomfortable situation against India in T20s as they lost the series by 4-1 scorelines. Meanwhile Root's comeback makes significance but will this long gap make an impact on his performance!
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Root hasn't played any form of limited-overs cricket for England since their exit in the ODI World Cup on Indian soil in 2023. In fact, he hasn't taken part in a List A match since then. Normally it takes time to settle in the rhythm hence there are doubts about how the veteran batter is shaping up, especially with the Champions Trophy coming up.
Joe Root so far has enjoyed playing in India as he has scored 2218 runs in 41 runs at an average of 45.26 with three hundreds to his name. In ODIs, Root has 571 runs from 16 games in India with a top score of 82 against Bangladesh, although he averaged only 30.66 in the ODI World Cup.
Former batter Sanjay Manjrekar said that Root could bring some sanity into the English batting with his ability to rotate the strike. "It's still a format dominated by ones and twos. And that's where you need batters who have that ability against good bowling to be able to put the balls in the gaps like Virat Kohli does," Manjrekar stated to ESPNCricinfo.
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He further added, "In England, Root seems the only qualified batter to do it because it's easier said than done, knowing where the ball is going to turn and eventually ending up playing with soft hands into the gaps is much more difficult than you would think and Root has the skill and the ability,"
It will be interesting to see how Root takes up the field and if it helps England give a good fight to India or not!
