As England gear up for the five-match Test series against India, beginning June 20, veteran batter and former England captain Joe Root has expressed that it is time to repay the support to Ben Stokes, who did so much for him.
"Ben did so much for me as my vice-captain, now it's my turn to give a bit back to him. It was difficult and weird coming back into the team after being leader. I didn't want to get in Ben's way or step on his toes, but I wanted him to know I was there to support him," Root was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
"I knew a big part of that was scoring runs. I wanted to make sure I could affect games with the bat, and clearly, if I was following his lead as a former captain, it sends a strong message to anyone coming into the team or not as established as myself," he added.
Joe Root, who was England’s Test skipper between 2017 to 2022, is the highly decorated player, with 13,006 runs in the longest format from 153 matches. His recent performances have been extraordinarily spectacular, having scored 3,117 runs in last three years after playing 36 matches. Meanwhile, speaking on the "Bazball" approach, Root said there is much more to it than what is visible.
"It has become the most fun time of my career. Playing the way we play, the environment that has been created. The job Ben and [head coach] Brendon [McCullum] have done has been fabulous and so much fun has come with it.
"It might not always get reported how it actually is - I don't think Bazball is the right way to describe it. It has clearly been a big change and is different to how a lot of teams play but there is a lot more method to it than is probably perceived."