Published 19:41 IST, January 30th 2021
Jos Buttler decodes Joe Root's ability to score 'quickly against spin' ahead of Ind series
Jos Buttler has lauded Joe Root's ability to play the spin well ahead of the upcoming four-match Test series against India that gets underway on February 5
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England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler has said that Joe Root is a very hard player to bowl dot balls against and the Test skipper has a brilliant game against spin. The English team will be locking horns with India in a four-match Test series that gets underway on February 5.
'He scores quickly against spin': Jos Buttler
"Joe was in fantastic form in Sri Lanka, he has always had a brilliant game to play spin bowling. He is one of the best exponents of the sweep shot and he picks length brilliantly. It is a big strength when playing spin, he is very hard to bowl dot balls at. He scores quickly against spin and he has so many shots, he manages to rotate strike," Buttler said.
"He did that fantastically well in Sri Lanka, the biggest thing about him was the hunger shown by him to bat for long periods. He showed great application both mentally and tactically. He is in great form and it is a great place for him to be at just at the start of the year," said Buttler while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.
Joe Root in Sri Lanka Test series
Root had amassed 426 runs in four innings at an average of 106.50 in the recently-concluded two Test matches against Sri Lanka in their own backyard where England completed a 2-0 whitewash. The 30-year-old had scored 228 in the first Test and 186 in the second.
Both teams look to continue their splendid run in the longest format
Both teams head into this series after having registered away Test wins. While Team India created history with a 2-1 win at the Gabba to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia last week, England handed a 2-0 whitewash to Sri Lanka in their own backyard earlier this week.
The elegant number three batsman Joe Root will be leading England in the four-match Test series that gets underway at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium on February 5 while Virat Kohli will be back on the cricket field after more than a month. He had returned to India after the Adelaide Test match against Australia in mid-December on paternity leave.
Meanwhile, the visitors would be hoping to repeat the heroics of the 2012/13 season where they had registered a 2-1 win in (four-match series) under the leadership of former iconic opener Alastair Cook. That remains England's last Test series win on Indian soil to date.
Kohli on the other hand looks to lead India to a second straight Test series win against England on home soil. At the same time, the four-match Test series will also constitute a major part of the ongoing inaugural ICC World Test Championship.
19:41 IST, January 30th 2021