Ashes 2021: Joe Root avers he is not a 'dictator' after criticism of England bowlers

England is already trailing Australia 2-0 in the Ashes 2021 series and the upcoming Boxing Day Test will be the last chance for England to keep the series alive. While the batting line-up has somewhat managed to put up a decent fight, the bowlers have failed to deliver in terms of picking wickets.

Ahead of the 3rd Australia vs England Test, England skipper Joe Root insisted that the whole team was pulling in the same direction ahead of the Boxing Day Ashes Test, and that his captaincy is no "dictatorship".

Ashes 2021: Joe Root on England bowlers' approach against Australia

Joe Root was critical of bowlers following the completion of 2nd Test. He had said that the bowlers didn't bowl the right lengths and expressed disappointment at the fact that his team repeated the mistakes they made four years earlier.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Boxing Day test Joe Root said, "The two performances we have put out have not been good enough. It's been basic mistake. We have addressed it, spoken about it and I expect to be a lot better."

He added, "It has been a mental thing for us. Not through lack of confidence, but understanding the conditions and sniffing out the danger. I think we can be a bit smarter about that. We addressed that at the end of the game. We know we need to be better and we have full confidence in our own abilities to put it into practice this week."

Ashes 2021: Joe Root backs bowlers to do well

Following the criticism after the second Test, Root, during the press conference, was asked about how the bowlers reacted to his comments, to which he said that his comments was not made to point fingers or to single out any players out but that the team collectively failed to perform well.

He also said that he answered the questions that was directed towards him regarding the bowling and insisted that his response would have been similar regarding the team's batting as well.

Indirectly pointing towards James Anderson and Stuart Broad, Root said that he likes to give senior bowlers responsibility since they have over 300 Tests and 1000 wickets between them.

Praising the veterans, the England skipper said that they are highly skilled bowlers and wonderfully talented players who have time and time again put in big performances for the team.

He said, "It's about working alongside them, it's not a dictatorship. Every now and again, you don’t always agree on everything, and that’s fine. Ultimately it’s about coming to a point where you get the results you want."