"It's Bravery..." - Brendon McCullum Defends Joe Root Amid Criticism From Alastair Cook, Geoffrey Boycott

England batsman Joe Root has not been able to score runs in the ongoing Test series against India as the team would have expected from him. Root has scored 52 runs from 2 games at an average of 13.00. Root is one of the best English batsmen whenever it comes to playing against India or in India. However, it looks like Root has lost his form ahead of the series due to which he has not been able to repeat the performance he used to do before.

Joe Root looked to score runs in a more attacking manner during the second Test match. However, he was also set up brilliantly by Jasprit Bumrah in the first innings of the match and later he was able to get his wicket. Root also sustained a finger injury during the match, which might have affected his batting.

England head coach Brendon McCullum believes that Joe Root’s finger injury is healing well. McCullum also spoke up on Root’s aggressive batting approach and stated that he was trying to get the fielders back so that he could milk them. McCullum added that bravery sometimes makes an individual match-winner whereas with the same the batsman also ends up getting out. McCullum added that this is just the way the game moves and there are three Tests left and Root has a lot of opportunity to score runs.

Brendon McCullum on Joe Root’s flop batting show

He said, “People will look at the dismissal but look at the method of his option. He was trying to get the field back so he could milk them. It is the bravery you have to take at times and sometimes you get out doing it. But that’s just the way the game rolls. There is no doubt from our point of view in that approach. There are three Tests left; opportunity to score s*** ton of runs.”

India showcased a brilliant comeback in the five-match Test series and won the second match by 106 runs. India also leveled the series 1-1 and will head to the third Test match starting on February 15, 2024. Chasing down 399 runs in the second innings won’t have been an easy task for England.

The England openers were off to an easy start and added 50 runs for the first wicket. However, as soon as Ravichandran Ashwin removed Ben Duckett, no other English batsman other than Zak Crawley stayed at the crease for long and were dismissed cheaply. At last, England were wrapped up for 292 runs and India were able to continue their undefeated run in Vizag.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, two Indian batters, were also the stars of the show because of their respective innings of 209 and 104. Even though the Indian team prevailed in the second Test match, there are still issues. The Indian team struggles in the middle and lower order. The absence of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul has been a major reason for the batsmen’s failure to score as many runs as possible. If both the batsmen miss the third Test match as well, India may bring in Sarfaraz Khan or Dhruv Jurel into the side.