Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir blamed England’s middle-order batter, Joe Root, for the shambolic display by the defending champions in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.
Root, 32, started the tournament with back-to-back half-centuries against New Zealand and Bangladesh, giving his side a hope that they can rely on the technical batter for the rest of the tournament, but he has been struggling to score big since then.
Gambhir believes that the underlying reason behind the constant poor performances of the English cricket team is the inconsistent form of Joe Root.
“If you see England’s batting lineup, apart from Joe Root, all the other guys want to play aggressive cricket. It is the form of Joe Root that has been the most damaging thing for this batting lineup because this entire batting lineup revolves around him,” said Gambhir while talking on Star Sports.
Gambhir further added that Root’s inconsistent form has disturbed the entire team as the challenge of facing seam and swing in fast bowling, which Root usually tackles without problem, has become a matter of concern for the English team.
“He was that anchor and glue who could bat from one end and the rest of the guys could actually play the way they wanted to. The moment Root hasn’t delivered, everyone gets exposed. Not a lot of guys have that ability to absorb the pressure of playing against the seaming and swinging balls,” added the 2011 World Cup winner.
In six matches played at the World Cup 2023, Root has only managed to amass 175 runs with an average of 26.16 and a strike rate of 93.08.
He has failed to perform in some big matches with his recent failure coming against the in-form Indian team as the right-handed was removed by Jasprit Bumrah on the first ball for a golden duck.
England have now lost five matches out of a total of six they played and are on the verge of getting out of the World Cup. They play Australia next, who are unbeaten in their last four matches.
- Joe Root