Stokes said that the Test captain has the full support of the English camp despite struggling in away matches.
Joe Root has been going through some tough times both as a player and as a captain. Following the innings-and-65-runs loss to New Zealand, he immediately came under the spotlight. His performance in red-ball cricket was heavily criticised. However, one of the English players, Ben Stokes, has backed his Test captain.
Root is only averaging 39.70 as a skipper. This then took a sudden dip to 27.40 this year alone. In the recent match against New Zealand, he only scored two and 11 runs in the respective innings. It can be concluded that it is one of the reasons why England lost as much as it did to New Zealand. It was also their eighth defeat in 14 international Test matches played. Regardless, he has a respectable record in home matches where the English won 14 and lost six Test matches under his captaincy.
Ben Stokes, Root’s second-hand, said that being and England captain is not an easy job. It’s also one of the most heavily-criticised jobs. He also said that every time the team would suffer a defeat, it is he who takes full responsibility.
‘The pressures of being England Test captain are huge. It can be one of the most criticised jobs in England. Sometimes unfairly. There are 11 guys on the field that contribute to a win or loss. It doesn’t all fall on the captain. He’s England’s best player and he knows he has got the full support of us in the changing room’, said Stokes in an interview.
‘We put our hands up as players when we don’t perform as well and unfortunately Joe cops most of that. But as a playing group, we stick together and we hold our hands up together’.
England’s next match is a Test match against New Zealand which will begin on November 29 to December 3. To find out more about England’s upcoming matches, visit Betwala’s page.
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