Joe Root wants England 'not to get distracted', says 'Virat's team will play how they do'

England skipper Joe Root in a press conference ahead of the England vs India 3rd test stated that England has taken some "good learning" from the defeat at Lord's last week on how to tackle Virat Kohli's Team India and are now "desperate to bounce back" at Leeds. 

Joe Root said his team will look to ensure they don’t get too distracted by things and will look to be the best version of themselves. “I think the most important thing for us regarding the theatre and everything else surrounding the game is we've got to make sure we play the game how we want to play it and we look after it the best we can. And not get too distracted or drawn into anything that's not us. We've got to be genuine to ourselves, genuine to how we are as individuals, and collectively and be as good as we can be. Now Virat and his team will play how they play, and I just want us to go about and be the best version of ourselves”.

The player further added that his team will need to find ways to deal with the Indian pacers in a smart manner and put the pressure on them. Jasprit Burmah is leading the wicket-taking charts with 12 scalps while Mohammed Siraj has 11 to his name while Mohammed Shami has bagged seven. Ishant Sharma and Shardul Thakur too have five and four to their names respectively in the lone match they have played.

“I think credit to India, they have got a wonderful attack. Look around Test cricket and there are some fantastic bowling attacks out there. A lot of them have the expertise to manage these conditions very well. India have certainly done that in this series” Joe Root added.

England vs India 3rd Test timings

The third of the five Tests between India and England will be played at Headingley in Leeds and will start at 3:30 PM. Team India are currently 1-0 up in the Test match series having won the 2nd test match at Lord's by a huge margin of 151 runs. 

Image: ICC Twitter