"Somebody Should Have Realized That Joe Root Isn’t the Right Guy"– Ian Chappell On England’s Captaincy Issues

Former Australian player Ian Chappell has berated England’s skipper Joe Root after tactical blunders cost the English side the second Test match against India. Ahead of the Ashes, Chappell reckoned Root isn’t the right candidate to lead a team.

At Lord’s, England had India on the mat on Day 5. The match was theirs to close out but a bizarre decision to bowl short at the Indian lower-order instead of going for the stumps backfired rather spectacularly. They were left licking their wounds following a stunning 89-run association between Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami.

This tactic was chastised by the entire cricketing fraternity. Chappell, speaking to Wide World of Sports, was skeptical of England’s winning chances going into the rest of the series and Ashes if Root remains the captain.

“He just loses the plot. His main problem is he doesn’t have a feel for the situation. England have got themselves in a corner, because somebody should have realised a while ago that Joe isn’t the right guy, especially against the better teams.”

“What are you going to do? Change captain on the eve of an Ashes series? That’s not a good idea. But by picking him as captain, you’re giving yourself very little chance of winning,” he expressed.

“They’ve let the situation deteriorate” – Ian Chappell

Following the tactical mishap, many called for a change in captaincy but the hosts don’t have an ideal option apart from Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow. Both these batsmen haven’t solidified their own position in the team so it isn’t practical to hand the captaincy reins over to them. The ECB is at fault for not having identified a better candidate than Joe Root for the role, as per Chappell.

“They’ve got serious problems now, because they’ve let the situation deteriorate, to the point where they have to make changes at a time when you don’t want to be making changes. At this point, they really want to be settled against India leading into the Ashes. But they’re anything but settled,” Chappell concluded.

The third Test between England and India starts on August 25 at Headingley, Leeds, where England hopes to come back into the series after the demoralizing defeat at Lord’s.

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