English Test skipper Joe Root has backed the experienced English Test opener Alastair Cook who is currently out of form with the bat.
In this calendar year (2018), Cook has scored only 269 runs in 14 Test innings with the average of just 19.21. He has scored only one 50+ score in this year and that was 70 against Pakistan at Lord’s in May.
In the ongoing home Test series against India, Cook has scored only 80 runs in 5 innings with the average of just 16.00. In the ongoing Test series, the left-handed opening batsman hasn’t crossed the 30-run mark yet as his best knock was 29 in the first innings of the third Test at Trent Bridge (Nottingham).
Cook’s last three-figure Test innings was at Melbourne in the last ‘Boxing Day’ Test match against Australia in the 2017/18 Ashes series, where he scored 244 runs.
However, the English Test captain Root is backing the senior opener by saying, “He (Cook) is a world-class performer. He is a proven that time and time again and actually I would like you to write him off because every time he is written off, he comes back and scores a double hundred.
“There is no-one with more experience currently in Test cricket than him. So I am sure he will be calling upon all of that going into that game and giving himself the best chance.”
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Not only Cook, the whole England batting is facing the tough time in Test cricket as it seems very inconsistent. Talking about this, Root has pointed out that they are playing on the seam-friendly pitches in the recent time.
Root said, “I think we have to be realistic about the surfaces we have been playing on. Throughout the whole summer, they have been very much tailored around seam bowling. With a lot of cloud cover, it seamed around quite a lot and it’s obviously swung as well. The hardest point to bat is opening up.”
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Root is also not in-form with the bat in this Test series. Apart from scoring 80 runs in the first innings of the first Test at Edgbaston, Root also disappointed as he has scored 142 runs (5 innings) in this Test series with the average of 28.40.
However, Root is confident to back in form soon as he is determined to perform better in the next Test of this series at Southampton, starting from August 30.
Talking about his batting form, Root said, “It’s one game. Look at the rest of the series. I felt I got a ball that kept quite low and nipped back sharply at the Lord’s, chuck a run out in there as well when I felt great at Edgbaston. It’s very easy to look at the figures in a short space of time. I know what I’m capable of doing. I don’t feel as though I am Bambi on ice or anything.
“I am determined to get things right at Southampton, but you’ve got to earn the right, you’ve got to get in and lay a platform to go on and make a big score. Again, you chuck that into some difficult conditions and an Indian side that has performed very well this week. If you are realistic about things – which I try to be – I don’t think I’m far away from making big scores.”
After winning the thrilling first Test at Edgbaston by 31 runs and claiming a big victory in the second Test at Lord’s by an innings and 159 runs, England lost the third Test at Trent Bridge by 203 runs. While England is still leading the five-match Test series by 2-1, Root is confident to wrap up the Test series at Southampton.
Confident Root said on this, “We are definitely in the driving seat as far as the series goes. We have to keep remembering that. We have got a little bit of time now to go away and reflect on what has been a difficult week.
“But in England, we are a very good side at bouncing back from a tough couple of days – and one thing you can never question about this group of players is the character and the way they can respond to a difficult passage of play. I’m fully expecting the guys to come back to Southampton refreshed, ready to go and – we hope – take an opportunity to wrap the series up.”
