Published 19:12 IST, February 4th 2021
'Pujara will be a huge wicket': Root acknowledges England's daunting task ahead of Tests
Joe Root has identified and pre-empted the threat that visitors face when battling Virat Kohli & Co. with the World Test Championship's finale berth on line
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As India and England gear up to square-off in the four match Test series, skipper Joe Root has already identified and pre-empted the threat that visitors face when battling Virat Kohli & Co. with the World Test Championship's finale berth on the line. While Root asserted that the Englishmen are confident after whitewashing Sri Lanka in the subcontinent, he also admitted that playing the Men in Blue is not an easy task. Acknowledging the Cheteshwar Pujara threat possessed by India in Tests, the England captain said that the Indian would be a 'huge wicket'.
'Great challenge'
Addressing a press conference on the even of Chepauk Test, Root said, "I think he (Pujara) is a fantastic player, I had the pleasure of playing a couple of games with him for Yorkshire. To learn from him and speak about batting, was really interesting. Playing against him and being on the wrong end of him scoring some runs, you learn from those kinds of innings. You have seen his importance and what he adds to the Indian team, he is going to be a huge wicket for us, no doubt."
Revealing his plans to tackle Pujara, Root said that his team would have to be 'mentally strong' as the Indian is at the crease. The English speaker also highlighted Pujara's record at home and added it will be a great challenge 'to come up against him'.
Speaking of the blow suffered by England with Zak Crawley being ruled out of the first 2 Tests, Root said that it is 'really frustrating'. "It is really frustrating, really frustrating for Zak in particular. Walking out of the changeroom, he slipped over and landed on his wrist. We have to look at things from a selection point of view, everything is on the table in terms of selection,” he added.
Refraining from giving away the starting XI for the first Test at Chepauk, Root said that the team would look at the conditions and the pitch to have 'clarity'. “We will look at the conditions and the pitch again to have clarity heading into the game. We can go with a number of options, that is the exciting part for us, we have a number of different players who can play at different positions,” the England captain said.
Pant to play Chepauk Test
On the eve of the first Test against England, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has confirmed that Rishabh Pant will assume wicketkeeping duties at the Chepauk following his glorious form in Australia. Kohli, who has returned to the squad after missing last three Tests Down Under, exuded confidence in the youngster and remarked that Pant will continue to be 'backed'. The Indian skipper also confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah will start at the Chepauk highlighting his heroics against England in the last home series. He also hinted at continuing with the opening pair of Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma in the long haul.
19:12 IST, February 4th 2021