England skipper Joe Root spoke to the reporters ahead of the fourth and final Test match against India in Ahmedabad starting from March 4. Having lost the last Test, the visitors are out of the World Test Championship final race. Meanwhile, skipper Root said that to come to India and draw the series will be a great achievement for him as captain. England won the first Test n Chennai to make a great start to the series. Losses in the next two Test matches and especially in the third Test has wounded their confidence a little bit.
Talking to ESPN Cricinfo, Joe Root spoke about England’s plans in the final Test match and said that a draw would be a brilliant result given how the series has panned out for the visitors.
“You look at India’s record at home in recent times and it’s incredible. So, for us to come away with a drawn series would be a really good achievement, especially off the back of the last two games. We’ve had two challenging weeks but that doesn’t define us as a team. We need to look at this as a real opportunity to do something special. It would be a brilliant achievement to leave here two-all. It would be a monumental effort from this group of players. So there are loads to play for,” ESPNCricinfo quoted Root as saying.
Root further said that if they manage to draw the series it will be one of his great achievements as England captain and something that the whole squad would be proud of.
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Drawn Series Will Be A Great Achievement: Joe Root
“It would certainly be up there with my greatest achievements as captain. The progress we’ve made over the last couple of years has been really pleasing, especially away from home. If we end up winning this game it’d be four wins out of six Tests on this tour. It would be a phenomenal achievement from the players to have found a way in some very foreign and difficult conditions. So it’s a great motivator for us as a side and I’d be extremely proud of everyone involved if we managed to do that,” he added.
Having seen how the Motera pitch behaved in the third Test match, England skipper Joe Root said that Dom Bess is almost sure to play in this game. Thus England would go in with three spin options in Bess, Root and Jack Leach. Root also picked up his career-best figures in the last Test with figures of five for 8.
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“If the pitch is anything like the last one, of course, Dom would be a fantastic option. His skill levels are far above mine. He will be very much looking forward to bowling on it. We’re definitely expecting this pitch to spin. That’s been a big part of our focus in training so we’re as prepared as we can be going into this game,” concluded Root.
