Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen defended England captain Joe Root after the 3-1 Test series loss against India. Root was in sublime form in the series, scoring a double hundred in the first Test. But his side's batting unit was exposed on turning pitches in India, and England could not find a way to fight back in the series.
While the England batting unit is facing flak for not being able to apply themselves in tough conditions, Pietersen defended Root saying that as a captain, he had other areas to focus on as well.
“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," Pietersen said at a virtual press conference.
"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.
{{/usCountry}}"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.
{{/usCountry}}"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," Pietersen further said.
Meanwhile, India and England will now play the five-match T20I series starting from Friday, and with the T20I World Cup set to take place this year in India, the visitors will hope to put on a good show to gain confidence ahead of the ICC tournament.