Joe Root Opens Up On James Anderson And Stuart Broad's Ouster From West Indies Tour, Says 'It's Not End For Them But Opportunities For Others To Become Leaders'

Joe Root spoke on James Anderson and Stuart Broad’s ouster from England’s tour of West Indies 2022. Both the English pacers are not part of the England squad for the West Indies tour, slated to commence on March 8 with the opening Test. The England skipper Joe Root pointed out that no one said that it is the end for the England pacers.

Broad and Anderson are the senior players in England’s Test side. The duo leads the team’s pace attack in the red-ball format, the only format they play currently. After their absence from the squad for the Test series against West Indies, Anderson and Broad were highly unsatisfied and disappointed over the decision. While Anderson termed the news as ‘shocking and disappointing’, Broad wrote in a newspaper column that he was ‘feeling angry and confused’.

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Also Read: It Was A Shock And Disappointment To Get That Call: James Anderson On Being Dropped For West Indies Test Series

No One is Saying This is The End For Them: Joe Root

During a press conference before departing to West Indies for the tour, Joe Root opened up on the matter. The right-handed batsman said that it was not the end for the senior duo and will be great to see them back in the squad in the forthcoming Test series this year.

“I’ve spoken both to Stuart and Jimmy and they’re obviously disappointed, angry, and Stuart in particular has voiced that quite publicly. You’d expect that. I’ve got a huge amount of respect for both of them. It’s been made very clear: no-one is saying this is the end for them. It would be great to see Stuart and Jimmy very much in the mix at the start of the summer as well”, Joe Root said.

“At no stage has anyone said it’s the end for them. It would be great to see them starting the season and putting themselves in the mix for selection. You don’t want to look too far ahead. Ultimately, we’ve got to look after what’s right in front of us. And that’s this tour and making sure we get as much of that right as we possibly can”, Root further said.

West Indies Tour An Opportunity For Others To Become Leaders, Says England Skipper

The 30-year-old England Test skipper also pointed out that Jimmy and Stuart’s absence from the squad is an opportunity for other guys to become leaders as well.

“The fact they’re not there means there are different roles others have to fill. They’ve taken the new ball for such a long time in English cricket, they’ve been leaders of the attack, had a lot of success and deserve a huge amount of respect for it. But this is an opportunity for other guys to step into that space and become leaders as well”, England’s Test skipper further added.

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England is set to face West Indies for three Tests next month. The England vs West Indies series will commence on March 8 with the 1st Test. The 2nd Test will be played from Match 16-20 while the 3rd Test will be played from March 24-28.

In the absence of Stuart Broad and James Anderson, pacers like Matthew Fisher, Saqib Mahmood, Ollie Robinson, and Mark Wood are part of the squad. England faced a humiliating 4-0 loss to Australia in The Ashes 2021-22 last month. Currently, they hold the last 9th spot in ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 points table.

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