WAQAR BACKS NASEEM TO BE A LEGEND
Joe must fill void of Stokes..and he admits it’s down to him to step up after a ’strange summer’ of poor batting returns and tactical errors
JOE ROOT is out to repay the hard work of his team after being bailed out by their brilliance at Old Trafford.
And, in the absence of vice-captain Ben Stokes, who brings so much to every part of the game, it is perhaps the most senior man who can fill the void.
It is all well and good 22-year-old Zak Crawley entering the fray once more as a improving young talent and Root saying that this is an “opportunity for someone to come in and try to fill those boots.” But the captain has scored more than twice as many Test hundreds as the rest of his entire top seven combined, so if anyone needs to fill Stokes’ boots, it has to be Root.
One 50 from six innings is hardly the body of work to strike fear into the opposition bowling attack and yet Pakistan know that Root holds the key to England’s chances of a decent first innings total this week and he can sense it too.
“It’s been a strange summer and I’m behind where I’d like to be as regards runs by this point,” said Root.
“And two run-outs in that period is not great, either.
“But this last innings was the best I have felt and I don’t feel I’m far away from a big contribution.
“You just have to trust you are good enough to make big runs. I need to be in the right frame of mind this week. “Someone has to take the responsibility, with Ben not being there.
“It doesn’t matter who it is, but they have to try to step up to the plate and trust their own game and help us go two up in the series.”
In the three games he has played so far this
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ENGLAND’S batsmen have been warned to expect more from fast bowling tearaway Naseem Shah by one of the greatest the game has known.
Pakistan fast bowling coach Waqar Younis was a blisteringly quick youngster who went on to take 373 Test wickets, terrorising batsmen with his pace and summer, he has helped secure three wins, which means he is now just one away from equalling Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook’s tally of 24.
But Root conceded that his captaincy was not great in the first Test, with question marks over his tactics and use of bowlers.
“I don’t think I had a very good game last week, I think I made a few errors – tactical errors – but that can happen from time to time,” he added.
“You’re not always going to get it right.
“I think, most importantly, we need to be clear on how we want the guys to play and that message is consistent and we’re seeing improvement week week out.
“It’s not about me or how many games we win with me as captain.
“It’s about us consistently getting better over a long period of time.” following up with a stare. And with a sprinters run-up before launching into his action, Waqar (right) believes Naseem will be able to cause more problems for longer.
“He is really young and talented and has a very good action,” said Waqar. “All he needs to do is in, v West Indies v Pakistan probably get stronger and fitter. He is very very talented and is only 17 years of age, he is still growing, his bones are growing, but what a talent he is.
“If you’re a fast bowler you should be able to look in the eyes of the batsmen and run in hard at
Mat 2 1
Runs 130 56
High Score 68 42
Bat Av 43.33 28.00 them and make sure you show your ability, which he does.
“He will mature and then will be harder to face once he has more experience.”
■ Pakistan white-ball cricketer and former coronavirus sufferer Mohammad Hafeez has been forced to self-isolate after failing to socially distance himself from a 90-year-old on the golf course.
Wkts 0 0
Catches 4 3