HEADINGLEY: England skipper Joe Root on Monday said that the addition of left-handed batsman Dawid Malan will bolster the top-three of his side and hopefully it will result in a good outcome in the upcoming third Test against India.
The first Test ended in a draw but India staged an incredible comeback to take the second game by 151 runs at the Lord's Cricket Ground. Both sides will now lock horns in the third Test, beginning Wednesday at Headingley, Leeds.
"Dawid Malan will offer us a lot of experience in that top three, not necessarily in terms of international experience in Test cricket, but he has played a huge amount of international cricket, he has dealt with pressure and he has played red-ball cricket over the course of his career and he has had great success. We know he is capable of big things in Test cricket," said Root during a virtual press conference.
"I mean, Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns are two fine players, they are very different in their styles, it is an opportunity for them to score big runs and get us off to a good start, hopefully, we can follow through on that," he added.
Speaking about how the top-order has underperformed so far, Root said: "I think it has been a very challenging summer, we have come across some challenging surfaces as well. We have to find ways to get better, when you look at batting in Test cricket, it revolves around big partnerships. That has got to be our focus, we need to look to have substantial partnerships. In England, starting your innings can be the hardest thing. The first innings in the second Test showed that we improved from the first Test."
"As I said after the last game, when I have missed out when others have come to the front. I know it has been me in the last couple of games where I have scored the majority of the runs but it is no reason why someone else cannot do that. I want to keep producing big runs, this week presents an opportunity for others to do the same," he added.
When asked how he would like to deal with India captain Virat Kohli, Root said: "We have to make sure that we play the game how we want to and not get too distracted or drawn into anything that is not us. Virat and his team will play how they want to, we will do how we want to. There is always going to be conversation on how you want to deal with different situations, we could have managed certain areas better in the last Test, there are three massive games to play in this series and we are desperate to come back."
Talking about the Indian pace attack, Root said: "I think credit to India, they have got a wonderful attack. India has certainly used the conditions, they have the right balance and variety, as players you need to find ways to counter that."