Joe Root on competition in T20: 'I have to keep getting better'

English cricketer Joe Root who has kept his main focus on the longer format of the game, is not giving up on his T20I ambitions. As per ICC reports, Joe Root is aware of the competition within the T20 squad and hence, the cricketer wants to keep bettering his skills in the format.

"For me to get into the T20I side, it will mean that I have to keep getting better," said the Test skipper. "If someone like Tom Banton comes in and sets the world alight, I've got to try to force him out in the limited opportunities I get to play. If that happens, it raises the standard of English cricket in that format. That's the food chain that cricket is sometimes. You have to be at the top of it otherwise you get swept away and eaten up".

READ: Bangladesh players call off strike to participate in India tour

Root sees Banton as his competition, although in a healthy way, and added that he would have to 'keep getting better' to not 'get swept away and eaten up' by a newcomer in the T20I set-up. 

Root has earlier said that he will make the most out of the limited opportunities he will get for the same. He mentioned that cricketers have to deal with tough competition at times to stay in the squad, however, he added that this will only raise the standard of English cricket in T20Is.

READ: MS Dhoni back to the grind, starts training with Jharkhand U-23 team

England tour of New Zealand 2019

The English cricket team is scheduled to tour New Zealand later this month for five T20I’s and a two-match Test series. The Test series will not form a part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship. The tour will open with a warm-up 20-over game against New Zealand XI and will conclude with a Test at Seddon Park in Hamilton from November 29 to December 3.

READ:  Rohit Sharma: Third Indian to enter top 10 rankings in all formats

England has rested some of their star players – Root, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, and Jos Buttler – for the T20I series, giving way to budding stars Tom Banton and Saqib Mahmood. 

READ: Dream11 KAR vs TN: Team news, match predictions and analysis