England skipper Joe Root is in great form and recently revealed his plan against Indian experienced off-spinner Ravichandra Ashwin. The first Test match between India and England is scheduled to start on February 5. The series is also very important from the World Test Championship’s point of view because the finalist of the Test Championship will be dependent on the series result. New Zealand already qualified for the finals.
Ravichandran Ashwin played an interesting role in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against England but missed the final Test of Gabba because of injury. Ashwin gave the all-round performance to cease the series for India against Australia. On the other hand, England’s skipper Joe Root is in very good form as he scored a double century and a 180+ inning against Sri Lanka in his last series. Talking about Ashwin, Root admits that he is a fine bowler and a plan is needed to tackle him.
“I won’t go out there trying to look to dominate or defend, I will just play the next delivery. He’s a fine bowler. He has a great record in India and he’s probably full of confidence off the back of that series,” Joe Root said.
The battle between Root and Ashwin is one of the most talked-about topics ahead of the India-England series. Joe Root is the kind of player who doesn’t like to play dot balls and always looks to get some runs. Ashwin sent him back to the pavilion many times and the players admit this fact, even though he aims to react to each ball independently.
“I’ve played against him before, scored a few runs and he’s probably got me out a couple of times as well. It’s going to be a great battle within the Test match. It’s the contest you want to get the better of. Having a ball-by-ball mentality will probably serve me best throughout,” Joe Root added.
