All we can do is fight: Joe Root

Joe Root

Joe Root, who fought hard against Indian bowlers with the company of England tail adding 50+ partnerships with Stuart Broad and James Anderson, has said that his side should be giving their everything to get something out of their ongoing Test match against India at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

“We’ve got to make sure we regroup as a side and get clear plans together. Then we just go out there and fight and make things as hard as possible for India. You never know, if me and Jimmy keep playing the way we did tonight we could really put them under pressure and make this lead really small.

"All we can do now is fight and make sure we front up tomorrow and put in a really good performance as a side,” Root told in an interview after the day's play.

At 202 for 7, it didn’t look like the home team would last long, but Root wasn’t the one to give up so easily. The right-hander, who scored his 5th Test half-century on Friday, credited his unlikely partners for the support. England ended the day on 352/9, with Root on 78* and Anderson on 23*.

“We have to give a lot of credit to Stuart and Jimmy at the end there and (Liam) Plunkett as well – even though he was in there for a short while we were still putting pressure back on them and frustrating them,” Root said.

“We’ve got to make sure we go out tomorrow and try and whittle down this lead as much as possible and then you never know, we could get ourselves back in the game. “I like it when it is tough – it is a good challenge. I thrive off it at times, but the way they played took a lot of pressure off me and put a lot of pressure back on their bowlers. Going forward we need to make sure we can continue to do that as a side. “I do think they’re probably still in a slightly more commanding position," the 23-year-old concluded.