ENG vs PAK: Everything I Asked For Was Delivered On The Field: Joe Root
Credits: Getty

England had their back against the wall when they were gearing up to take on Pakistan in the second Test at Headingley. Before the start of the summer, Joe Root & Co. were thrashed in the Ashes and had lost in New Zealand. Their summer started on a similar note. Pakistan inflicted a humiliating 9-wicket loss on them at Lord’s.

England were in danger of losing their third successive Test series and first home series defeat to Pakistan this century. As expected, widespread criticism found its way in the English dressing room. But before things could have further deteriorated, Joe Root & Co. bounced back strongly and came up with a clinical effort to dismantle the visitors in the second Test and square the series. Barring the toss almost everything went England’s way in the game as they thrashed Pakistan by an innings and 55 runs.

ENG vs PAK: Everything I Asked For Was Delivered On The Field: Joe Root
The series ended 1-1 (Credits: Getty)

But despite the much-needed win, Root is not getting carried away.  The England skipper made it clear that he was determined not to “paper over the cracks” that have been evident for the last nine months. He also expressed his disappointment over not being able to win the series.

“We’ve generally had a very good record at home so in some ways it is disappointing [to square the series]. But it would be wrong to think like that. We’ve responded well this week and hopefully, if we can continue doing the things right around the game, we’ll be able to perform more consistently,” said Root in the post-match press conference.

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The series once again showed England’s inconsistency which has crippled them for quite some time now. When Root was asked about it, he said:

“We’ve set our stall out for where we want to get to. We’ve decided we want to go about things differently in preparation. And we have to give that a chance to work. If we continue to stick to that and keep approaching games of cricket like we have this week, we will start to see more consistence performances on the field.”

Root further lauded England’s batting performance. He reckonedtheir first innings 363 was worth “at least 100 more” on a surface which continued to offer assistance to the bowlers throughout.

“The approach from the whole batting group was excellent,” Root said.

ENG vs PAK: Everything I Asked For Was Delivered On The Field: Joe Root
Buttler scored an unbeaten 80 in the second innings (Credits: Getty)

Root concluded by expressing his relief on registering a win after eight Tests.

“It’s more pleasing than anything,” he said. “We had to show a lot of character. I asked for a lot of things this week and everything I asked for was delivered on the field. It’s now about replicating that more consistently around the actual games.

“We know we’re not the finished article and we’ve got to work hard to get to our goal,” he concluded.

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