Joe Root Hints At Dawid Malan's Inclusion In 3rd Test vs India

England Test captain Joe Root hinted at including Yorkshire batsman Dawid Malan in the team for the third Test against India at Headingley.

Malan, who played his last Test match against India in 2018, could be the answer for England’s batting woes in the middle which cost them the second Test at Lord’s.

Joe Root hints Dawid Malan’s inclusion for third Test against India

Root said that his Yorkshire teammate has played plenty of international cricket and even red-ball cricket in county cricket which will help the team at the top to score some crucial runs.

“Dawid Malan will offer us a lot of experience in that top three, not necessarily in terms of international experience in Test cricket, but he has played a huge amount of international cricket, he has dealt with pressure and he has played red-ball cricket over the course of his career and he has had great success. We know he is capable of big things in Test cricket,” said Root during a virtual press conference.

Haseeb Hameed made a comeback to Test cricket after nearly five years but to his surprise, he was dismissed on the very first ball he played off Mohammed Siraj’s bowling. The Nottinghamshire batsman could only add nine runs in the second innings.

Root feels players like Hameed and opener Rory Burns need to get off with a good start and score some big runs for the team.

“I mean, Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns are two fine players, they are very different in their styles, it is an opportunity for them to score big runs and get us off to a good start, hopefully, we can follow through on that,” Root said.

Joe Root urges England batsmen to step up and score big runs

With 386 runs from four innings, Root has scored the majority of runs in the England batting line-up and only Jonny Bairstow has managed to contribute some handful of runs.

England were bowled out for 120 in the second innings at Lord’s against India, as Root top-scored with 33. The England captain urged his colleagues to step up and build substantial partnerships in order to post huge totals.

“I think it has been a very challenging summer, we have come across some challenging surfaces as well. We have to find ways to get better, when you look at batting in Test cricket, it revolves around big partnerships. That has got to be our focus, we need to look to have substantial partnerships. In England, starting your innings can be the hardest thing. The first innings in the second Test showed that we improved from the first Test,” Root said.

“As I said after the last game, when I have missed out when others have come to the front. I know it has been me in the last couple of games where I have scored the majority of the runs but it is no reason why someone else cannot do that. I want to keep producing big runs, this week presents an opportunity for others to do the same,” he added.

India leads the five-match series 1-0 and the third Test begins on Wednesday (August 25).

Also Read: Michael Vaughan Targets Coach Chris Silverwood For Not Intervening To Guide Team During India Vs England