Team yoga and skipping are keeping us sharp for Joe’s big day. We’re not overawed by India
IT IS Joe Root’s 100th Test appearance in Chennai and the occasion feels like it’s crept up on us. One thing I would say is that you don’t reach the hundred milestone if you are not constantly looking to improve and he is certainly someone that will always look to do so. His hunger is the reason I believe he will go on to win 150 caps.
Over the last few weeks he has l ed this England team by the standard of his performance. The way he has applied himself to batting has been inspiring. And as a captain he has improved with time.
The thing about the volume of international cricket these days is that if you get into the national side at a young age, like he did, your only chance to captain comes in the England team itself, meaning you are always learning on the job.
Joe’s still learning how to captain in different parts of the world, but he’s developed a lot, his record in Sri Lanka for example is extremely impressive, and he is unbeaten anywhere in his past 10 Test matches.
He’s yet to do the job out here in India, but while this will be a different challenge it’s certainly one that he will meet front on. And I’m confident he has the players around him to help him deliver.
There are no doubts that he is our key batsman in the conditions here because he very rarely gets out to spin, and he’s the best English player I’ve seen against it.
But that’s the good thing about building a team. When you are looking to score 400 in the first innings across all types of conditions it is important to have players with different strengths in your batting unit.
STAYING IN BED NOT AN OPTION
ONE of the challenges of quarantining for six days in our Chennai hotel as we prepare for the Test series in India is to keep moving.
If we were to lie down on our beds until we begin three days of practice on Tuesday there would be lots of hamstrings and groins going left, right and centre once the first Test starts.
So we’ve been doing things to try to combat that. On Friday, we did a team yoga session at nine o’clock in the morning, followed by a team skipping session in the afternoon.
Skipping is not something I have really done before, but you must try to find ways of doing some cardiovascular exercise within the limited confines of your hotel room and Phil Scott, our fitness trainer, has become quite imaginative.
I’ve also got the Peloton app and that allows me to do some bodyweight classes with a personal trainer online.
As a bowler it is not ideal preparation from a physical point of view but it is what it is. This is the modern world in which we live. Injuries will occur more frequently in this kind of environment — we have seen it with Sri Lanka and India recently — but that’s why we’ve got 24 players on tour.
When we do get out to train, the key thing will be not to go at it 110 per cent because our bodies will not have done the appropriate level of physical preparation for a week — or two in my case because I didn’t play the second Test in Sri Lanka.
But this is where having 13 years of international experience helps. At the top level, experience is not just what you do on the field but how you manage your body after a bit of a break. One thing is for sure, I will be training so I am ready to play on Friday.
If you can’t physically do all the work, then you must do it mentally instead. I tend to go through four overs in my head from each end of t he ground before a Test match, visualising what it would be like just so I feel like I’ve bowled.
I also try to make myself nervous, like I’ve got butterflies in my stomach. It fits in with what my dad told me when I was 15 years old.
He said that Test cricket was 80 per cent mental and 20 per cent technical, and that has stayed with me.
CONCENTRATE ON US... OR ELSE
THIS is not an easy place to tour, and India’s confidence will be sky high from winning at the Gabba to complete a s eri es vi ct ory in Australia earlier this month.
I can tell you that they had supporters within this England team throughout that decisive match in Brisbane.
The togetherness, the character, spirit and willingness they showed was phenomenal. Any team in the world would have been proud of what India achieved despite being depleted by injuries. They are the World Test Championship leaders for good reason. But we have moved from being admirers to their enemy within a couple of weeks and what we cannot do is build India up in our minds. They are not impregnable.
Virat Kohli is one of the best I’ve ever seen but if we go through all their positives we will be defeated before we’ve even begun. We need to build on our own strengths. We are entering the series in great form ourselves.
We’ve got batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders in the top 10 of the world rankings. Yes, India are a brilliant side, and it would be one of the most remarkable series victories if we were able to pull it off, but we know if we get our mindset right we can beat anyone.
I also have no doubt that the Indian team will be thinking: ‘England, they’ve got some good players’. And those of us who have been on Ashes trips know how ti ring they are. It will be no different for the Indians now coming back from Australia.
Quite a few of their players went straight from the IPL in the autumn to that tour and that will not help when it comes to fatigue.
Can we be right at the top of our game to find any chinks they have in their armour? You can’t go into battle simply looking at the opposition’s strengths.
Be aware of them. But don’t focus solely on them. Otherwise, you’ll be stuffed. Let’s pick up on a couple of weaknesses.