Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has said that Joe Root can learn from Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne and try to improve his concentration in the middle as well. However, Root has been in great form in the ongoing Ashes series as well.
After getting out for a duck, he has registered scores of 89 and 62 as well. However, he got out every time while playing outside the off-stump which gave the hint of a lapse in concentration.
And, according to Ponting, Root’s issues are more mental than technical. He also stated that the captaincy might be taking a toll on him but warned that things could be worse as well. Ponting told cricket.com.au:
“It’s got to be a mental thing. There’s no technical error in his last two dismissals that has led to him getting out. It’s got to be him being not quite switched on enough for the ball he’s got out to. Marnus and Smith are really good examples of how they can find a way to be so switched on for so long.”
Ricky Ponting further added:
“It is a concentration thing with Joe and captaincy probably doesn’t help either, (spending) long periods of time in the field when your team is not going so well. They haven’t gone so well of late with their Test results. All of those things take a toll on you. He spent one and three-quarters of a day in the field before he went into bat. I know that’s Test cricket and everyone’s been there before but you’re probably more likely to make a mistake having fielded for two days than going out fresh.”
While Joe Root has improved his conversion rate over the last few years, he is yet to score a hundred in a Test in Australia. Playing in his 11th Test there, he has scored 721 runs with the top score of 89, averaging 40.05 s well.
It will get tougher for England – Ricky Ponting
The former Aussie captain further cited that things will continue to get tougher for the visitors considering that they haven’t picked any spinner in the side.
“It will get tougher because the noise will get louder around their team. The selection noise will get louder. The fact they haven’t played a specialist spinner, knowing what Nathan Lyon has done in the past, that’s got to be a huge blue,” the Australian legend continued.
“They’ll be doubting pretty much everything they do. If they lose here there will be more pressure on selections (with England thinking) ‘Did we get it right? Did we get it wrong? Who do we play in Melbourne?,’ Ricky Ponting concluded.
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