Joe Root keen on playing all three formats of the game to improve his skill
England Test captain and World Cup winner Joe Root believes that he will have to be at the top of his game to break into England’s T20I squad for next year’s T20 World Cup, while also insisting that he was very much keen to represent England in all the forms of the game. Joe Root and other senior players were rested for the T20I series against New Zealand, and according to him, the emergence of young players like Tom Banton will only push him to strengthen his skills.
For me to get into the T20I side, it will mean that I have to keep getting better. If someone like Tom Banton comes in and sets the world alight, I've got to try to force him out in the limited opportunities I get to play.
If that happens, it raises the standard of English cricket in that format. That's the food chain that cricket is sometimes. You have to be at the top of it, otherwise you get swept away and eaten up.
For someone who is considered as a Test specialist, Root's T20I numbers are certainly something he can be proud of. In 90 T20Is, Root has scored 893 runs at a healthy average of 35.72, with his best score of 90* coming in his first T20I innings against Australia in 2013.
I know how important it is that Test cricket is my main focus....But as long as the other formats aren't a distraction or taking away from what I can give to the Test team, then I'll always look to improve my game and put myself in as many situations and scenarios, which I think will help me in the long-term.
In six matches as part of the T20 World cup in 2016, Root scored 249 runs at an impressive average of 49.80, including a 54-run knock that saw him finish as England's top run-scorer from the summit clash, and turned the clock back to share his thoughts on his performances in the global tournament.
I obviously scored runs in 2016 final and I've always felt that when I have had a block of that format, to really get stuck into it, I've generally done pretty well. I felt that was the case with the last T20 World Cup. It took me a couple of warm-up games over a two-week period beforehand to really get back into it.
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