Don't point fingers at Joe Root, blame the other batters who failed: Kevin Pietersen
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has thrown his weight behind Joe Root after his team's emphatic series loss in India. Pietersen, on Monday, remarked that critics should refrain from pointing fingers at Joe Root and should rather hold the other batsmen accountable for failing to stand up and be counted.
Joe Root led from the front in the first match of the 4-Test series, scoring a scintillating double hundred to give his side an expected 1-0 lead. However, his form spectacularly tailed off in the next three Tests, as he mustered only 110.
Nevertheless, in a recent press conference, Kevin Pietersen said that as the captain and the best player of the side, Joe Root could be excused for already having a lot on his plate. Pietersen said in this regard:
“Sometimes, as a captain, you got a lot to deal with. You’ve got a tremendous amount of things to deal with and being the best player in the team, you also need to try and lead by example. Don’t forget, Joe Root scored a double hundred, then a big hundred (both versus Sri Lanka) and again a double hundred in India. He scored plenty of runs over the last six to eight weeks, so let’s not point a finger at Root. Rather, let’s point a finger at the other batters, as some of them couldn’t even aggregate 100 runs in the six weeks that they have been here."
“I think, Joe is a fabulous player. On the field, he’s fantastic and off the field, he’s a great servant of the game. He is a leader, and he knows what he is doing. So let’s just keep calm with him and instead have a look at the technique of the other players,” said Kevin Pietersen.
The first Test apart, England batsmen scored only three fifties in the remainder of the series; in comparison, their Indian counterparts notched up eight. Indian bowlers, especially the spinners, also bowled better in the last three Tests to help the team take the series 3-1.
Not having a world-class spinner was England's weak link: Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen, who is in Raipur for the ongoing Road Safety World Series as the captain of England Legends, defended the English domestic system for preparing batsmen against quality spin bowling.
Instead, Kevin Pietersen said, the lack of a 'world-class' spinner in the English ranks proved to be the difference between the two teams.
“I’m not sure if spin is not taken very seriously by England because the English batters and the English system are both very professional and very well structured. So I wouldn’t say that they don’t take it seriously. I just think the batters came unstuck against two quality spinners, and the difference between the two teams was that England did not have a world-class spinner. And that has been the issue. (Dom) Bess and (Jack) Leach are just not world-class spinners,” stated Kevin Pietersen.
India and England will now meet in Ahmedabad on March 12 to commence a 5-match T20I series.