Mighty impressed with Ravichandran Ashwin’s range, aggressive mindset and relentless pursuit of wickets, senior England batter Joe Root has said that the veteran Indian off-spinner is a constant threat who hardly believes in the concept of wearing the opposition down.

Ashwin, who recently went past the 500-wicket milestone in the traditional format becoming only the second Indian after Anil Kumble to do so, will play his 100th Test during the fifth match against England, starting on March 7 at Dharamsala.

“Ashwin is always trying to find ways of getting you out rather than trying to wear you down, over long periods of time,” Root said on Sky Sports cricket podcast hosted by former England captains Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain.

Root, who along with his teammates is currently enjoying a break in the series, said the infinite variety that Ashwin has in his bowling keeps the batters guessing.

“He uses creases differently from traditional off-spinners. He uses over-spin, side-spin, can get really tight to the stumps, can go wider and he has got the carrom ball, you know, a lot of different tricks.

“So, you will have to be really wary of different threats that he poses and make sure that you have very good skill sets to counter (him) and be on top of him,” said the ex-England skipper.

Giving an insight into the way Ashwin operates, Root said the Tamil Nadu man often bowls six different deliveries in an over.

“Ashwin is making sure that you don’t play the previous ball. He is very good at trying to drag you across the crease and get your head to one side of it and beat both edges quite frequently,” he said.

Root said Ashwin poses different threats while bowling with new and old balls.

“There are different things to contend with because of his seam position and how cleverly he can move around the shiny side that has got some extra skid.

“So, you have to make sure that you are in position a little bit quicker. He can also drift the ball away and bring the slip fielder into play,” he explained.

Root also offered a comparison between Ashwin and Nathan Lyon, the other premier off-spinner of this generation. The 36-year-old Australian has taken 527 wickets from 128 Tests.

“With Lyon it is all about, I think, especially in the first half of the Test match, to get over the top of the ball, get the bowl bounce, knee roll high, in between and try to bring short leg and leg slip into the game as much as he can.

“Then just slowly, get slower with his pace and drift wider into that. There are those footmarks, you know, Mitchell Starc has so kindly done for him for such a long period of time,” added Root.

England’s much-talked-about ‘Bazball’ approach has not really worked in this series against India, where the visitors are currently trailing 1-3.

But Root said frustration has not seeped into the England camp as yet.

“Don’t think there is too much frustration within the team. Our top order has been far more consistent than it has been for long, long years. But this part of the world can be quite tricky to do that (attacking batting), especially in the second innings.

“But the bigger picture is not about how we can blast ahead but to find the best in our game. There will be times when we need to play a bit pragmatic, but this team does not regret and we need to learn from every opportunity,” he detailed.

Jonny Bairstow, who is set to play his 100th Test in Dharamsala, has struggled with the bat, managing just 170 runs from four Tests and he is yet to score even a fifty.

However, Root backed his fellow Yorkshire man to come good sooner than later.

“I came across him when he was 12 at a Yorkshire scholarship programme with the rest of the boys. He was a superstar even then and had this tough task of living up to the name of his father (former England wicketkeeper David Bairstow).

“But Jonny has always excelled and went from strength to strength. He wears his emotions on his sleeve,” said Root.

England’s Joe Root (left) and teammate Harry Brook. File
| Photo Credit: Ap

Seven players, including Harry Brook, were among 29 England cricketers who were awarded central contracts by the ECB for the first time, while premier all-rounder and Test captain Ben Stokes was given a one-year contract on Tuesday.

The deal pre-dated from October 1 this year also includes a first-of-its-kind multi-year contracts, which were offered to 18 players including Brook, Joe Root and recuperating pacer Jofra Archer.

Apart from Brook, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Matthew Potts and Josh Tongue received the contract for the first time.

Pacer Carse on Monday was named as a replacement for injured Reece Topley in England’s squad for the on-going World Cup.

Managing Director of England Men’s Cricket, Rob Key, said: “We are rewarding those players who we expect to make a significant impact over the coming years playing for England.

They will play a pivotal role in England’s efforts over the next few years.”

England’s new multi-year central contracts:

Three-year contract: Joe Root, Mark Wood, Harry Brook.

Two-year contract: Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jonathan Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.

One-year contract: Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Ollie Robinson, Reece Topley.

Developmental contract: Matthew Fisher, Saqib Mahmood, John Turner.

The return of the talismanic Ben Stokes augurs well for champion England at the ICC World Cup set to begin in India next in October.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

England crossed the final hurdle at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 against New Zealand in one of the most exciting cricket matches in history.

A few of England’s big performers from that title-winning campaign — Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood and Adil Rashid — feature in this edition, and will look to recreate the magic. Fast bowler Jofra Archer, the side’s highest-wicket taker in 2019, misses out due to injury.

The omission of Jason Roy has taken up headlines in the build up to the World Cup. Roy, initially slotted to open the batting with Jonny Bairstow, was axed from the final squad to accommodate the form pair of Dawid Malan and Harry Brook. Roy’s case was weakened when a back spasm ruled him out of the ODIs against New Zealand earlier this month.

Bold call on Brook

Malan is likely to take on the new ball with Bairstow, while the malleable Brook will come into the middle-order. With only six ODIs under his belt, Brook may not have experience on his side, but his huge returns in Test cricket and in the Hundred prompted this bold call from the selectors.

All-rounder Ben Stokes, the ‘player-of-the-match’ in the 2019 final, came out of a hiatus to play in this mega event. Stokes had retired from ODIs in July 2022 to stay fit for Tests, but the decision was reversed when he was named in the squad to take on New Zealand. Stokes’ tremendous value was underlined when he smashed a 124-ball 182 in the third ODI.

There are concerns surrounding Root’s poor form. The batter was included in the eleven in the first ODI against Ireland last week, but his wish to get into last-minute rhythm was denied when the outing was washed out. He will now step out to bat at the World Cup hoping that class overrides form.

On paper, England boasts of a strong bowling line-up, led by pacers Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, and leg-spinner Adil Rashid. Rashid’s recent fitness issues, and Wood’s long layoff, however, has called into question their readiness to perform on the biggest stage.

In Sam Curran, Reece Topley and David Willey — all left-arm seamers — reliable back-up is at hand.

The squad: Jos Buttler (Capt.), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, and Chris Woakes.