Xtra Time Web Desk: England captain Joe Root on Monday made it clear that his side will focus on the way they want to play rather than get distracted with India’s tactics to get under their skin. With India leading the series 1-0, one expect more aggression from Virat Kohli’s team but Root said his team has learnt its lessons from the previous game and will not be drawn into the conversations needlessly.
“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,” said Root in the virtual pre-match media interaction.
He added, “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 has already admitted to tactical blunders that cost his side the Lord’s Test. Their emotions also got the better of them.
“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.
The England captain made it clear that his side will focus on the three tests that are coming up.
“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,” Root said.
England have made a few changes going into the game with Dawid Malan coming in to bat at number three and Haseeb Hameed moving up to open alongside Rory Burns. Opener Dom Sibley has been dropped and Mark Wood has been ruled out of the game due to a shoulder injury. Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood is likely going to replace Wood.