"Can't wait to hear who Joe Root's successor is" - Kevin Pietersen posts sarcastic tweet post England's series loss to West Indies
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has come out in support of Test captain Joe Root following the team's humbling 0-1 Test series loss to hosts West Indies in the recently concluded three-match series.
Many former English players like Steve Harmison and Michael Atherton have urged Root to offer his resignation. However, Pietersen has suggested that the players are to be blamed for the side's underwhelming recent outings in red-ball cricket.
Taking to his Twitter account on Monday, Pietersen wrote that he looks forward to seeing who will replace Root as Test skipper. He sarcastically suggested that the new captain is going to get the current lot of batters and bowlers doing wonders.
Pietersen wrote on the micro-blogging site:
"Can't wait to hear who Joe Root’s successor is, that's going to get the current crop of batters scoring double hundreds, the spinner bowling teams out on day 3/4/5 & a set of fast bowlers that opposition batters are scared of…"
Can’t wait to hear who Joe Root’s successor is, that’s going to get the current crop of batters scoring double hundreds, the spinner bowling teams out on day 3/4/5 & a set of fast bowlers that opposition batters are scared of…
It is worth mentioning that the English batters did impress in the first two fixtures against West Indies. But they failed to make an impact in the series decider at Grenada.
They were bundled out for paltry scores of 204 and 120 in the final match of the rubber.
West Indies ultimately secured a stunning ten-wicket victory in the game to pocket the series. The Poms have now gone five Test series without a victory.
It's defeat in Grenada.
Congratulations to @WindiesCricket who win the match and the series.
🏝 #WIvENG 🏴 https://t.co/mYtEuDY26R
"It's not Joe Root's fault" - Kevin Pietersen
Speaking on talkSPORT, Pietersen questioned who is going to lead the English side better when the players themselves haven't been performing consistently.
He pointed out that it was not Root's fault that the side has been failing, as there aren't many options to pick from.
Pietersen highlighted the abscene of quality spin bowlers in the line-up and stated that he had made it clear three years ago that Jack Leach was not good enough for Test cricket.
"Who else is going to captain them? You’re only as good as your players. My question is who is going to take over and do a better job with the players they’ve got. Forget Joe Root, it’s the players, who is going to do a better job with the calibre of player that is playing Test cricket for England?
"It’s not Joe Root’s fault. Who else are you going to pick? When Jack Leach and Ben Stokes got that partnership at Headingley, three years ago against Australia, Stokes played the innings of his life.
"I said then, this guy Jack Leach is not good enough, he can be remembered for his glasses, let’s hope he’s not, but he’s not a good enough spinner, he’s not, who’s next in line? Dom Bess? Are you joking?"
England are currently languishing at the bottom of the World Test Championship points table after their series loss to West Indies with a points percentage of 12.50. They came into the series after being thrashed by Australia in the Ashes.
Joe Root came under the scanner after the team's poor showing at the Ashes. It remains to be seen if the English think-tank will still decide to persist with him as skipper after yet another unsuccessful campaign in the longer format.