For properly over a decade, Joe Root and Virat Kohli have been spoken of as the greatest batters in the world. With Kohli now having retired from Test cricket, Root said that he’ll “miss those battles” with Kohli.
“I’ve never been in competition with Virat. He is someone I’ve always admired, and thought, ‘Wow, what a player’. I’ll miss those battles we had on the field, but it provides opportunities for other players to try and put their mark on Test cricket,” Root stated in a media interplay organised by Sony Sports Network.
The Indian Test workforce, which takes on England in 5 Tests, will miss the companies of one other skilled batter in Rohit Sharma, who too has retired from the longest format. “Cricket is poorer without them being around. They are two Indian legends. They’ve done amazing things for Indian cricket for such a long period of time. It’ll be a slightly different look to the series, but we still expect it to be highly competitive,” Root stated.
Jasprit Bumrah is unlikely to play all 5 Tests, however when he does have ball in hand, the pacer presents an enormous risk, Root stated.
“Every time he’s played, he’s had a huge impact. He is clearly going to be a big threat. We have to try and manage as best we can,” the England nice stated.
Root added that the key lies in taking part in the Indian assault as a complete, as a substitute of obsessing on Bumrah. “You can’t single out individual bowlers. You have a plan for every challenge and different bowler type. There will be times when he (Bumrah) is going to be hard work, and we’re going to have to work through that. And when we get opportunities to score, we’ve got to take it,” Root stated.
The 34-year-old is just not a fan of the proposed transfer to change Tests to a four-day affairs. According to a report in The Guardian, the ICC is prepared to sanction four-day Tests in the WTC to assist smaller nations to play extra video games.
“I don’t really understand why you’d need to change it to four days. Coming from England where it rains a lot, you’re basically asking for more draws, which nobody wants. It doesn’t really make sense to me. If you look at some of the greatest Tests of all time, they go right down to the wire,” Root stated.
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Published – June 18, 2025 12:00 am IST






