England’s Test captain Joe Root said that completing a series victory against South Africa in their backyard would be a great captaincy highlight by him, especially after the number of challenges they had to face over the past few weeks.

“It would be (a big deal) because of the various things that we have had to manage on this tour,” Root said on the eve of the final Test starting. “We have had a couple of injuries, senior players who have had to fly home, a lot of illness to deal with and we have had to adapt to a lot of different conditions with what is a young group of players. That’s all been very pleasing.”

England began the tour in December where 10 players, as well as support staff suffering from a mystery virus alongside batsman Rory Burns and fast bowler James Anderson, returned after being injured. They lost the first Test but bounced back with wins in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

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“It’s a sign we are doing the right things, both in practice and preparation as well as on the field,” Joe Root added. “If we can harness that, take it forward and keep improving as a group, then I do think the sky’s the limit for this team. We are very much at the start of something here. We are not perfect but we must keep up that attitude, keep driving it forward if we want to get to No. 1 in the world,”

Joe Root further said England had not yet finalised their Test squad as Jofra Archer is yet to make a comeback after an elbow injury ruled him out and he couldn’t feature in two Tests. Mark Wood, who played in Port Elizabeth, must also have to prove his fitness while Chris Woakes is another option to be included.

“It would be nice to see how Archer and Wood pair together, how that looks,” said Joe Root. “A relentless barrage of pace would be exciting, especially on this surface.”