England National Cricket Team skipper Joe Root has clarified that they refrain from shaking hands during their tour of Sri Lanka owing to the rising threat of coronavirus. Meanwhile, England will tour Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series starting from March 19 in Galle. However, they will play two warm-up games leading to the Test series as a part of the ICC World Test Championship.
The three lions have suffered health problems in recent tours. A number of England cricketers were hit by a series of gastroenteritis and flu problems before and during the first Test on their recent tour of South Africa. The entire team will be a lot cautious this time around and has decided to refrain from the coronavirus, which has cost the lives of many people.
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Joe Root was recently asked on the coronavirus on Monday as England prepared to depart for their two-Test tour. The Yorkshire batsman said instead of shaking hands, England players will greet each other with fist bumps.
"After the illnesses that swept through the squad in South Africa, we are well aware of the importance of keeping contact to a minimum and we've been given some really sound and sensible advice from our medical team to help prevent spreading germs and bacteria," Root said.
"We are not shaking hands with each other, using instead the well-established fist bump, and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the anti-bacterial wipes and gels we've been given in our immunity packs," he added.
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Furthermore, England skipper Joe Root is expecting a stern challenge from Sri Lanka, who have not been in their best in recent times. The last time England toured, they defeated the host 3-0 and Root hopes to draw confidence from there and put out another emphatic performance in the upcoming tour.
"The conditions will be a bit different with the time of year we are going this time," he said. "The three games we played out there last time were all very close with less than 60 runs between the teams in the last two Tests. It was an exceptional performance last time and I think we can take a lot of confidence from that in terms of how to play out there," he concluded.