Step Down As Captain? Joe Root Confirms His Captaincy Future After Ashes Defeat

Under-pressure England captain Joe Root has insisted he has no doubt he is still the man to lead the side. Joe Root’s poor captaincy career suffered another setback on Sunday when England lost the fourth Ashes Test to Australia and missed the chance to regain the Ashes. Australia thrashed the hosts by 185 runs to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Australia have thoroughly outplayed England in the series. In the fourth Test, England never looked like winning the game as Australia took command of the proceedings right from the start. Chasing an improbable 383, England were all out for just 197 in the final session of the game. In the process, Joe Root became the first England captain in 18 years to lose the Ashes at home.

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England had last lost an Ashes at home way back in 2001. Since then, they had won the series four times in a row at home. The latest result has only piled pressure on Joe Root who had also lost the Ashes in Australia in 2017-18. Earlier this year, England had also lost a Test series to West Indies. But despite all the setbacks, Joe Root is keen to continue as skipper.

“Definitely, yes,” he said when asked if he felt he was the right man for the job.

“I have been given a fantastic opportunity to captain the Test side and will continue to work very hard at doing my best at that. That is in my control I have to make sure I do everything I can to get this team in the best shape to win as many games as possible,” he added.

Root also praised his side’s resilience and the character his teammates showed.

“I thought we showed great character, fight and belief in what we wanted to achieve today,” Root said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the effort that the guys put in today.

Root will now be looking to avoid a series defeat when the fifth and final Test gets underway on Thursday.