England under Ben Stokes are not big on team meetings and prefer organic conversations about the game to get the best out of players, says the team’s batting mainstay Joe Root. Root, who is yet to make big runs in the ongoing Test series against India, has fully bought into England’s aggressive style of play in the longest format. Their five-match series against India is locked at 1-1 after the hosts bounced back to trump ‘Bazball’ here on Monday in the second Test.
“We don’t really do team meetings anymore. That’s one of the great things about how we do all of our conversations away from the game and just that enjoyment and buzz about spending time with each other,” Root had told ‘Jio Cinema’ before the game here.
“We don’t have to sit in a meeting room and I think it’s more authentic and more genuine when you can have it around a dinner table. Having a coffee in the morning or whatever, I think that’s when you do your best learning,” he said.
England found themselves trailing India by 190 runs in Hyderabad before staging a sensational comeback. Here too, they conceded a 143-run lead but were not able to catch up with their opponents.
“Regardless, of the result of the game, we’re always going to play how we know. It’s what’s given us success for a good period of time now. It’s what brings the best out of us. We’ve been in similar situations before.
“The last time we played India in England, in that one-off Test, we were miles behind in the game and we managed to chase that score down. There have been numerous other occasions where we’ve done things that we never thought we could have done before,” said Root.
On Ollie Pope’s match winning 196 in the opening Test, Root added: “Ollie went out and probably played one of the best overseas innings you’ll see in these conditions, especially against that attack on that surface.
“The more time we spend in these conditions, hopefully, we can continue to familiarize ourselves and keep that calmness about how we go about things.
“But also, when the chances are there and when the time’s right, we can keep applying pressure and then try to attack at the right moment.”
