"I feel like the group are very much behind me" - Joe Root intends to continue as England captain despite series defeat to West Indies
England's Test captain Joe Root has come under the scanner again after his team's 0-1 defeat against hosts West Indies in a three-Test series. Despite the embarrassing loss, Root has maintained that he wants to lead the side in the longer format.
Joe Root spoke to BT Sports following England's 10-wicket loss to the Windies in the third Test at Grenada. The England captain revealed that he is still passionate about taking the Test side forward. He also reckoned that he has the backing of the group.
Root said:
"I've made it quite clear at the start of this game and throughout this tour that I'm very passionate about trying to take this team forward. I will control all I can; I don't think it's ever in your hands. I feel like the group are very much behind me. We're doing a lot of really good things - we just need to turn that into results now."
It is worth mentioning that while England did come up with impressive batting performances in the first two Tests. But, in the crucial third Test, they were bundled out for paltry scores of 204 and 120. The Poms have now gone five Test series without a victory.
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"We've ended up losing out on the series, in which we've played so much brilliant cricket" - Joe Root
The 31-year-old highlighted how the team's batting group did well in the first two encounters. However, he admitted that the batters failed to make an impact on the crucial third day of the final Test.
Joe Root also expressed disappointment over losing the series in which they did play some inspiring cricket.
"Immediately, there's frustration at how it's finished because throughout this series I think we've played some really good cricket...yesterday really let us down. It's an important day within the series, and we just didn't stand up to it well enough. Then unfortunately you find us in this position where we've ended up losing out on the series, in which we've played so much brilliant cricket."
England are languishing at the bottom of the World Test Championship points table with a PCT of 12.50. The English management did make several changes for the West Indies series, leaving out seasoned campaigners like James Anderson and Stuart Borad. With yet another failure, they might consider going back to the drawing board.
After a disastrous Ashes campaign, this loss to West Indies has further exacerbated England Test team's misery. Joe Root was expected by many to be sacked after the debacle in Australia. However, England stuck with him. He may have just run out of time with this defeat.