England captain Joe Root will have no qualms about bowling his off-breaks during an upcoming two-Test series in Sri Lanka where the pitches...
England captain Joe Root will have no qualms about bowling his off-breaks during an upcoming two-Test series in Sri Lanka where the pitches are expected to provide plenty of turn for spin bowlers.
Although in the side primarily for his batting and leadership skills, Root does have 29 Test wickets to his name, with a best of 4/87 against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in January last year.
And with off-spinner Moeen Ali ruled out of the series opener in Galle starting Thursday as he continues his quarantine following a bout of coronavirus, Root could end up balancing England’s XI as a third slow bowler in support of Dom Bess and left-armer Jack Leach.
England do have specialist spinners Mason Crane, Amar Virdi and Matt Parkinson among their travelling reserves but including any one of them in the side could leave the tourists with an unduly weakened batting line-up.
When Root led England to a 3-0 series sweep in Sri Lanka in 2018, Moeen, Leach and leg-spinner Adil Rashid took 48 wickets between them.
World Cup-winner Rashid, however, has since become a white-ball specialist as he looks to prolong his career by guarding against a persistent shoulder injury and only Leach of that trio is available to Root on Thursday.
Although Root’s...
