India vs England 2021: Joe Root Defends England's Rotation Policy

England captain, Joe Root, and the management is receiving plenty of flak for their rotation policy of resting players in the aftermath of the 327-run loss against India in Chennai on Tuesday.

England has a very busy schedule this year: the Three Lions play 6 Tests in Asia then host India for 5 Tests and later travel to Australia for the Ashes; along with that there are plenty of limited-overs matches leading up to the T20 World Cup; several players will also participate in the IPL.

Hence, considering such immense time spent in the bio-bubbles, which will take a toll on the physical and mental health of the players, the ECB instituted a rotation policy to rest players.

Hence, James Anderson, despite a scintillating performance with the ball in the first Test was rested for the second, and in came Stuart Broad who was rested for the first Test. Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, and Mark Wood were also rested from the first half of the series after playing two Tests in Sri Lanka.

No regrets on making the changes: Joe Root

Joe Root after the second Chennai Test said that factoring in all the aforementioned things, they have decided to rotate and rest players and that he or the management will stick to their plans. The 30-year-old opines that whoever the replacement players are, are good enough to put up match-winning performances and indicated the depth they have got.

“It is difficult; it is challenging, so is everything in these times with Covid and bubble life. The amount of cricket that we have got and trying to factor all of that together it is tough, but that’s where we’re at, and that’s where we find ourselves, and we have to make sure that we get the best out of our players. We have got growing talent and a good number of options,” Joe Root said in a press conference.

“No (on having regrets about making changes), we made that decision looking at a number of things. When you lose, the selection is one of the easy things to blame.

“Looking at the side we did select, the players that were out there certainly had the talent to produce a very fine performance,” the skipper added.

Moeen Ali, who took 8 wickets and scored 49 runs in the second Test, returns back to England – Ali is part of England’s white-ball teams and is likely to play in the IPL – as Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood return to the squad for the third Test. Sam Curran remains rested for the third Test in Ahmedabad.

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