'Let Mad Men Tee Off...': Vaughan Drops BAZBALL Reality Check For Joe Root, Wants Poms Star To Find Lost Hero

‘let mad men tee off…’: vaughan drops bazball reality check for joe root, wants poms star to find lost hero

Former England captain Michael Vaughan wants ace batter Joe Root to stop Bazball and play conventional cricket. Joe Root endured poor outings in the first two Tests, registering below-par scores of 29, 2, 5 and 16. Root was out slogging in the second innings of the Vizag Test which drew massive criticism from the former cricketers. Vaughan said Root should stick to a more conventional style of play that has yielded positive results for him.

“They are in fifth gear from ball one,” Fox Cricket expert Vaughan wrote in the UK Telegraph. “I don’t mind some of them playing like that because they are better for it. But Joe Root should forget it. He has 10,000 Test runs playing like Joe Root. He doesn’t need to be a Bazballer. It is time for someone in the management to put an arm around Joe and say “please just be yourself,” Vaughan wrote.

Vaughan added that Root is England’s best player of spin and if the ‘Three Lions’ have to win the series in India, he needs to play a big role. Vaughan said that the way Root got out in the second innings of the Vizag Test was very unlike Joe Root.

“I think it’s as simple as the fact that he is too wrapped up in Bazball, the whole ethos of excitement and entertainment. This is particularly important against spin. Along with Graham Gooch, Root is the best player of spin England has ever produced. To see him bat the way he did in the second innings, that’s not Root, and it’s not the way England are going to win in India, just gifting wickets away,” Vaughan wrote further.

Vaughan added he does not have issues with players like Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett or Ben Stokes playing Bazball but Root should anchor the innings and be the rock of England’s batting.

“I knew something was up when I saw him get off the mark in both innings with reverse sweeps,” he said. “He doesn’t play like that. He gets himself in, then takes risks. Let the firecrackers play like that. Joe has to be the rock, the calming influence while the mad men tee off around him.”

Vaughan added that England can’t win the series in India if they don’t learn the the art of changing batting approach as per match situations.

“I do worry that they might become a team who do all this great work only to not actually win very much,” Vaughan said. “They didn’t win the Ashes when they should have done and now they have let India back into a series when they still have a load of big names, including Virat Kohli, to come back. England have done a lot right on this tour so far and I genuinely believe they can win. But to do that, they need to smarten up their batting, and fast,” he concluded.