Carry on captain, I don’t want your job
JOE ROOT has backed Alastair Cook to continue as England Test captain beyond this tour of India after insisting he has no designs on taking on the role.
Cook’s position was questioned before the series began and has come under renewed scrutiny following this week’s eightwicket defeat at Mohali, which has put England 2-0 down against India with two Tests to play.
But Root, Cook’s deputy, says the opener has no plans to step aside just yet.
“He is pretty set on captaining for a few years to come and I hope he does because he is a brilliant leader and I’ve really enjoyed playing under him,” said Root.
“He is coping all right. He’s very professional and you don’t really get much from him in that respect.
“You could put a lot of blame on Cooky but actually it is the responsibility of the batters to make those big scores. You can blame whoever you want, but we have to take responsibility for our own game.”
Cook has been captain since England’s 2012 tour of India and asked if he fancied the job any time soon, Root said: “I’m quite happy with the role I’m playing at the moment and you want to do what is right for England and the side.
“He is the right man. Hopefully, we get these results we want in the last two games and we can put right what has been quite a frustrating last couple of weeks.” Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket, will sit down with Cook in the new year to discuss his future.
Even if he were to step down Cook, 31, would drop back into the ranks and continue stacking up the runs. With an Ashes series looming next winter, England will want clarity over Cook’s hunger for the role sooner rather than later and if he were to step aside Root would be the only realistic option.
Durham opener Keaton Jennings, who has replaced injured Haseeb Hameed in England’s squad, warmed up for a possible Test debut in Mumbai next week by scoring an unbeaten 101 to guide the Lions to an eight-wicket win against the UAE in Dubai yesterday.
Jennings, 24, is captaining England’s second string and will play one more game tomorrow before joining the senior squad on Monday. Reflecting on a winning start to cap his wonderful week, Jennings said: “That couldn’t have gone much better. It was our first game together in the field after six or seven weeks, and a really enjoyable experience for me captaining the team.
“To spend some time in the middle for me was great, even if they were one-day runs – which is obviously different to how things will be in India.”