(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir criticized England batter Joe Root for his poor showing in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
Defending champions England are currently at the 10th and last position on the points tally of the ongoing World Cup and are almost living on borrowed time, having won only one match out of six. In their recent fixtures, two Asian teams, Sri Lanka and India, defeated them with the margin of eight wickets and 100 runs respectively.
One of the major factors behind England’s dismal performance is Root’s current form.
In the 2023 edition of the quadrennial event, the 32-year-old has accumulated only 175 runs in six innings so far with a poor average of 28.16.
Gambhir described Root’s form as the ‘most damaging thing’ since he is the only batter in the entire English line-up who can anchor the innings and around whom all the rest of the batters revolve.
“If you see England’s batting lineup, apart from Joe Root, all the other guys want to play aggressive cricket. It is the form of Joe Root that has been the most damaging thing for this batting lineup because this entire batting lineup revolves around him,” Gambhir was quoted as saying on Star Sports.
Gambhir further mentioned that England’s batting unit got exposed as Root failed to deliver in the World Cup games. Apart from Root’s fifty-plus knocks against New Zealand and Bangladesh, he looked absolutely flat against Afghanistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and India, against whom he recorded scores of 11, 2, 3, and 0 respectively.
“He was that anchor and glue who could bat from one end and the rest of the guys could actually play the way they wanted to. The moment Root hasn’t delivered, everyone gets exposed. Not a lot of guys have that ability to absorb the pressure of playing against the seaming and swinging balls,” Gambhir concluded.
The Champions Trophy 2025 qualification is at stakes for England. The Jos Buttler-led outfit will next collide with Australia on November 4.