Joe Root preaches “ruthless” mantra against “brilliantly good” Indian team
After a historic win at Chepauk, Joe Root has asked his teammates to be ruthless against a brilliant team that has the habit of staging a comeback from deadly situations.
Joe Root secured his sixth Test win in Asia from six games to usher in a new era for English cricket and that has seen them being 1-0 up in the Anthony de Mello Trophy contested between India and England. It was a historic victory in many ways and a sign of how far England have come as a unit ever since being annihilated in 2016.
Now that they have a sniff at a rare dominance, Joe Root asked all his teammates to not give an inch and rather be ruthless about their work against a side that can comeback from any situation.
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“It’s certainly a very good victory but in the scheme of the series, we know it’s just a start. India are a brilliantly good team, especially in these conditions, and a proud nation as well. They’ll come back hard at us but to be sat here 1-0 up is really good,” Root said in the post-match press conference.
“Very proud of the way we’ve played this week. We’ve set a benchmark now and have something to work from and compare ourselves to. There are still areas we can improve and that excites me, to play as well as we have and still be able to get better.
“If we get the opportunity to get ahead in the game in the second Test we have to grab it with both hands, let’s be ruthless and do everything we did well in this game again, and better. They’re a very good team, we know that, we can’t be dismissive of what we’ve seen this week, and [we] expect a real fight for the rest of this series.”
Root: Happy about the way we scored after winning “important” toss
England won an important toss against India to have the first crack on a flat Chennai wicket that had nothing to offer for the bowlers. England piled on the runs in the first innings and that proved to be the difference with the wicket deteriorating.
The English skipper was pretty happy about the approach their players made and stated that they have to follow the same template if the chance arrives.
“The toss was always going to be important but from that point on it was really crucial we exploited that and made the most of the opportunity to bat first on that wicket,” Root said.
“We speak about batting long and making big scores in these conditions and we did that brilliantly well. We played good cricket and we were in control of the game the whole way through.”
James Anderson produced one spell of absolute audacity in Chennai that took Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane’s stumps for a wicket. With the ground providing reverse swing, it was a spell as good as it got and Root couldn’t stop praising.
“He seems to get better all the time. His skill level keeps improving, his work-rate is as good as anyone’s I’ve ever seen and his fitness levels are probably the best they’ve ever been. When you’re under pressure and need something to happen, if you’ve got him in your armoury it’s a very comfortable position to be in.”