Joe Root reflected on the Lord's Test and some of the decisions he made: Chris Silverwood

Tags: India tour of England, 2021, India, England, England vs India, 3rd Test at Leeds, Aug 25-29, 2021, Joseph Edward Root, Christopher Eric Wilfred Silverwood

Published on: Aug 30, 2021

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England head coach Chris Silverwood has stated that England captain Joe Root learnt from his mistakes in the Lord's Test and made the adjustments at Headingley. England dominated the Lord’s Test but some baffling tactics on the last day saw them lose focus and concede the Test by 151 runs. The hosts, however, hit back hard at Headingley and trampled India by an innings and 76 runs to level the five-match series 1-1.

Like at Lord’s, India fought back strongly. After being bowled out for 78 on the opening day, they managed to reach 215 for 2 in their second innings on Day 3. However, England did not repeat their mistakes from Lord’s and rolled India over early on Day 4, Ollie Robinson claiming a five-for.

Speaking at a virtual press conference, Silverwood admitted that Root thought hard about what went wrong at Lord’s. He said, "He reflected on the Lord's Test and some of the decisions he made. He does learn as he goes along and that's a great characteristic for a captain to have: to reflect back honestly and make a difference. And he's certainly made a difference this game. Joe and I reflected on the Lord's Test and thought about what we could learn and how we could get better.”

"And I think there was a controlled aggression around what they did [at Headingley]: the way they hit the lengths hard, the way they put the India tail under pressure and forced them to make decisions all the time. I think you can be aggressive in a very controlled way and I think they got that right," he added

On Root becoming England's most successful Test captain, Silverwood said that was superb and It's something he has been looking forward to for a while. The coach added in praise of England’s captain, "I think he's a good Test captain. I think he is growing and learning all the time. We saw that last week. I think there's potential there for him to be one of the great England captains. He's got the potential to be. If we win in Australia, we can have this conversation again.”

Silverwood also conceded that England might considering resting either James Anderson and Ollie Robinson considering the amount of cricket coming up. Anderson and Robinson have been England’s best bowlers in the series. Silverwood admitted, "What I don't want to do is break them. We've got a lot of cricket in front of us. The Tests are coming thick and fast now. They're back-to-back. It is difficult. These guys are giving everything, every day when we're out on the field. We've got to make sure we're looking after them, but I won't be making any decisions or judgments right now until we get to London.”

Meanwhile, England recalled pace-bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes to the squad after he recovered from a heel injury. Jos Buttler, who is awaiting the birth of his second child, will not be part of the fourth Test. Jonny Bairstow will don the gloves instead. Mark Wood also retains his place in the squad and has been declared fit for The Oval encounter. Wood missed the third Test due to a jarred shoulder following a tumble he took during the Lord’s Test.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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