"Joe Root isn't the right guy to captain against big teams" - Ian Chappell fires shot ahead of the Ashes
England skipper Joe Root has come under the scanner after England's capitulation against India at Lord's, with Australian legend Ian Chappell saying that Root is not the first guy to captain England.
The hosts had the game under control at one stage on day 5 with Rishabh Pant back in the hut. After that, Joe Root's England deployed a strange tactic of unleashing a barrage of bouncers against India's tail instead of targeting their wickets.
Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah negated the bouncers easily and added a record 89 runs for the ninth wicket to post a target of 272 which was enough to seal a win. Speaking to Wide World of Sports, Ian Chappell raised concerns about Joe Root's leadership skills with the Ashes to follow later this year.
"He just loses the plot," Ian Chappell said. "His main problem is he doesn't have a feel for the situation. England have got themselves in a corner, because somebody should have realised a while ago that Joe isn't the right guy, especially against the better teams.
He further added:
"What are you going to do? Change captain on the eve of an Ashes series? That's not a good idea. But by picking him as captain, you're giving yourself very little chance of winning."
Ever since he took over the job from Alastair Cook in 2017, Joe Root has led England in 54 matches and has won 26 out of them with a winning percentage of 48.14.
'They're anything but settled' - Ian Chappell on England's condition ahead of Ashes
Ian Chappell, who led Australia in 30 Tests, stressed that England have a lot of questions to answer before they tour Australia for the all-important Ashes.
"They've got serious problems now, because they've let the situation deteriorate, to the point where they have to make changes at a time when you don't want to be making changes," Ian Chappell said.
"At this point, they really want to be settled against India leading into the Ashes. But they're anything but settled," he added.
The five-match Ashes 2021 starts on December 8 with England and Australia locking horns at the Gabba.