Rooted out – Is it the end of the road for Joe Root in T20Is?

While skipper Joe Root in Test Cricket is exponentially exhibiting the form of his life, England, on the other hand, has once again omitted his enlightened presence from its recently announced 16-man T20I squad against India. In the course of selecting the Test squad for the ongoing four-match Test series, the ECB selectors had immaculately conveyed their plans about playing their full-strength squad for the T20 series hereby allowing them to extensively prepare for the upcoming World T20.

According to the national selector Ed Smith, who had explicitly praised England’s impregnable success in all the three formats has adored ECB’s rest and retention policy by terming it as an apparent reason for such exquisite accomplishments. After beating the hosts by 227 runs in the Chennai Test, England has now reached the top of the WTC table. Apart from that, Captain Morgan’s team is also the no.1 ranked side in both limited-overs formats.

As per Smith, Root’s nonpareil run in Test cricket has mainly transpired because of wholeheartedly allowing him to focus on the red-ball format. And because now there’s plenitude in Root’s red-ball batting, his omission from the T20Is does get counterpoised.

One of the strongest reasons behind Root’s desolation is also because of England’s strenuous year in Test cricket. Apart from the ongoing Test tour, there’s a two Tests home series against no.1 ranked team NZ, followed by a five-match Test series against India.

Besides the above two, there comes the highly anticipated 2021-22 Ashes series wherein after watching India pull off a historic win, the Englishmen would now vigorously fancy their chances. Hence as per the selector (Ed Smith), Joe might have very little time to pour his efforts out for the white-ball format.

Happy birthday Joe Root!

How did you rate his 2019? pic.twitter.com/OGECHuRgnI

— ICC (@ICC) December 30, 2019

Another justified reason which legitimizes Root’s omission is the way England has gone with its T20 batting order. The batting in the top five is so overwhelmed that just to accommodate one of its vital cog (Jonny Bairstow) in the top seven, the stalwart was seen batting at no.4 position in the South African series.

Whether England’s highly scrutinized rest and retention policy is plausible or not but the fact is England has acclaimed seven out of eight series wins in T20Is.

All in all, in reality, England’s white-ball setup in T20Is does look highly profuse especially the batting contingent. And on the flip side, Root does have a realm to endure in Test cricket, at least till the end of the Ashes. Therefore, one can at the minimum presume that for the short time being, England’s Test skipper might get abstained from playing T20 cricket.