Sides look evenly matched as cricket returns to free-to-air TV in the UK

The Preview by Danyal Rasool29-Aug-2020

The ECB may have failed to get a 100-ball tournament off the ground this year, but 97 deliveries in an incomplete T20 demonstrated that even formats this short allow for plenty of time for ebbs and flows. Pakistan began the contest applying the squeeze on England, Imad Wasim removing Jonny Bairstow in the first over, and Tom Banton’s struggles from the PSL appeared set to continue when he nicked off to Shaheen Afridi, only for Iftikhar Ahmed to put down a dolly.That invigorated the opener, who would play the innings of his brief international career to propel England past 100 in under 12 overs, Pakistan’s Shadab Khan bearing the brunt of his belligerence. However, when the legspinner got rid of him for a scintillating 42-ball 71, the England of the first few overs resurfaced. They proceeded to lose 4 wickets for 14 runs, and were stumbling rather quickly to the point that when the rain came, it was perhaps a bigger relief for Eoin Morgan’s side than Babar Azam’s.Shadab Khan claimed the key wicket of Tom Banton•Getty Images

While the weather played spoilsport for a third consecutive match between these two, what little cricket we got revealed this has the makings of a thoroughly entertaining series. For one, England and Pakistan appear very evenly matched, with the Old Trafford surface suggesting it didn’t discriminate between bat and ball as much as it did between good and bad cricket.Each side was rewarded when they were tactically cannier and technically superior, and while Banton’s brilliance made a mockery of the venue’s alleged spin-friendliness, all of England’s wickets (besides a run-out) did fall to the spinners. That should continue to be an integral theme of the series, and England’s slower bowlers will know they have to keep up with Pakistan’s when they’re the ones being put under pressure.As a whole, Pakistan probably emerged from the game the stronger-looking side, with the hosts’ vaunted T20 power-hitting batsman struggling to impose themselves – one notable exception, of course. Dawid Malan’s slow starts continued – he finished with a run-a-ball 23 – and none of the other batsmen managed 15, while even Pakistan’s two left-arm quicks were encouragingly economical, conceding a combined 24 in 25 balls. A batting line-up that appears slightly long in the tooth, however, hasn’t yet been tested; Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez were both picked for the first game, while Haider Ali sat out. It was, well, an interesting decision, but one that never was put to the test. Will they throw Banton’s youthful Peshawar Zalmi teammate into the mix in the second match? It should be great fun when we find out tomorrow.

England WWLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

Pakistan WWLLL

It’s been more than two years since Adil Rashid last played a T20I in England – as opposed to Wales – and while his economy was the most impressive characteristic in that series against India, it was his wicket-taking in his following short-form outing against Sri Lanka in Colombo. He would go on to take five wickets averaging 9.00 in the following series against West Indies, and though keeping the run rate down can be an occasional problem, it isn’t often he goes wicketless. An obvious automatic pick in this format, Rashid’s ability to vary the flight and adjust late in his delivery stride make him an excellent exponent of legspin in T20 cricket. He may have played only three T20Is at Old Trafford, but it’s a venue that should hold great potential for his craft.Imad Wasim demonstrated once more why he was such an integral figure in Pakistan’s march to the number one T20I ranking. His role with the ball is so predictable as to be formulaic, but that doesn’t mean opposition sides have been able to do much to counter him. He will open the bowling, concede very few runs in the over or two he bowls, and more often than not pick up a wicket or two in the process as the pressure on the batsman builds. It isn’t just that he doesn’t give away runs, it’s the speed at which he gets through his spell that can often smother so effectively. It sets the tone, and for this Pakistan side, muscle memory kicks in from there. It appeared to be working on Friday, and expect more of it tomorrow.

With the first T20I rained off before England had a bowl and nothing standing out conspicuously enough to demand correction, it’s unlikely Morgan’s side will line up any differently for the second match.England (possible): 1 Tom Banton, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Sam Billings, 7 Lewis Gregory, 8 Tom Curran, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Saqib MahmoodPakistan opted heavily for experience over youth, at least as far as the batting lineup went. In the bowling ranks, however, Haris Rauf got the nod ahead of Wahab Riaz, and ended up proving the most expensive of the lot. The left-armer should fancy his chances of inclusion this time around.Pakistan (possible): 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Shadab Khan, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Iftikhar Ahmed, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Wahab Riaz/Haris Rauf, 11 Shaheen Afridi

It’s the same venue as the first Test, and with the same strip being used, there shouldn’t be much variation in the nature of the contest. The weather, though, is far more encouraging, and while the evening should be nippy, rain is unlikely to play a part.

Stats and trivia

• Six members of England’s starting XI from the first T20I have played for PSL franchise Peshawar Zalmi at some point or other. Should Wahab Riaz and Haider Ali get a chance tomorrow, as many as ten Peshawar players could start the second T20I.
• Adil Rashid and Shadab Khan have each bowled in 41 T20I innings, sending down a combined 290.3 overs. They have just the one maiden each during this time. Mohammad Amir, meanwhile has sent down five, just two short of the record, currently held by Jasprit Bumrah.
• The second T20I will be broadcast live on free-to-air TV in the UK, with BBC One showing live international cricket for the first time since 1999.

“It’s fantastic – a great opportunity for cricket in general, and for us as a team. So we’ll be hoping we can put on a good show. I don’t think we need to put any more pressure on ourselves as a team.”
“They have a good side, but I think we have a better one. If the match had been completed, you would have found that out.”

Among Australia’s new targets is the record of 21 consecutive ODI victories held by the men’s team

Daniel Brettig23-Sep-2020Beth Mooney’s focus on greater self-belief and quicker adaptation to specific sets of conditions and match scenarios underlines why she will enter Australia’s first international assignment on home soil since the onset of Covid-19 as the world’s best T20 batter.Far from sitting back contentedly on a dominant T20 World Cup, capped by the perfect anchor innings in Australia’s triumphant final against India at a packed MCG in March, Mooney has spent the intervening months working to build on her own levels of assurance and versatility when confronted by different situations at the top of the order alongside Alyssa Healy.This emphasis was encouraged by the fact that, apart from the final itself, Australia’s road to the T20 World Cup was anything but smooth, with early struggles followed by an anxious passage through a rain-hit semi-final against South Africa and the looming threat of coronavirus before the competition decider ultimately played out as if in a dream.ALSO READ: Alyssa Healy aims to develop 360-degree strokeplay“It’s not so much technical sides of my game but more the way I think about it,” Mooney said. “I’ve been working on that really closely with Shelley Nitschke up in Brisbane and [former Australia coach] Mark Sorrell, so that’s been really cool to work with different people and get different perspectives of what they think where I’m at, compared to what I think. Given we’ve just been training for four to five months I’m really excited about being able to put some things into fruition out in the middle and hopefully take the game on.”There’s usually times when I’m pretty unsure of myself out in the middle and not necessarily backing my decision-making and the situation in the game. But to be put under different scenarios on the wickets at training and I guess learning to adapt quicker to what the wicket’s doing and what the situation might be. They’re only scenarios but to get some feedback from the coach directly is pretty important.”I guess I needed a little bit more data to collect that what I was thinking was pretty accurate with whatever was happening with the wicket or the situation. That’s been really nice to be able to have those conversations and working closely with people who are highly respected helps as well.”Beth Mooney was the leading run-scorer at the T20 World Cup•Getty Images

Memories of those hectic days in February and March, particularly after an opening loss to India in Sydney and then a nervous chase against Sri Lanka in Perth, where the team looked briefly to be on the cusp of elimination, have bolstered Mooney’s belief that the group led by Meg Lanning is not just a collective of frontrunners, but also fighters.”We got ourselves in positions where we were put under the pump a lot more and I feel like we came out on top in a lot of those situations,” Mooney said. “We’ll be able to look back on that tournament when we’re under the pump or feeling under pressure and be able to get through those situations pretty nicely.”It was a different tournament for us in the sense that we were challenged and put under pressure a fair bit, but at the same time that’s a really good indicator of where the game’s at around the globe, people are investing in women’s cricket. To be able to have contests like we did at the World Cup means this series against New Zealand will be no different and they’ll be really tightly fought.”More broadly, Australia’s next major ambition is to reclaim the ODI World Cup, after they were eliminated in the semi-finals by India in 2017, leaving England to lift the trophy at Lord’s. “The easy part about playing in this team is everyone has a drive and ambition to be better and continually improve,” Mooney said. “We’re ranked No. 1 in the world and we have big ambitions to stay there for as long as possible and be one of the greatest teams that’s ever played.”For us, we won the T20 World Cup so there’s a bit of a target on our back now, but New Zealand are a class side and this will be the first challenge that we have in making sure we can be as consistent as possible in these T20s, and then the one-day series, the carrot dangling for us is that world record of 21 straight ODI wins.” As for the changes forced by Covid-19, Mooney said there had been plenty of sobering moments during the six months since the T20 World Cup final, all of which made the team’s first all-in training sessions since that tournament feel like even more of a privilege than usual.”The biggest one for me is seeing the humans being impacted, whether it’s their job situation or challenges they’re facing in their families, being stuck in isolation down in Melbourne, it is pretty easy to be empathetic for humankind at the moment because everything’s difficult for everyone,” Mooney said. “There was a really great vibe at training yesterday because it was the first time we’d all been back together since that World Cup final, so to be able to do something we love and do it in the current climate is something we’re really excited about and passionate about and grateful as well.”Among numerous adjustments for Mooney to make this season is the fact that, after making a significant move to the Perth Scorchers ahead of this year’s WBBL, she will turn out for the Perth team without ever setting foot in the west due to the state’s current hard border.”I’ll just stay in Brisbane post this series and probably train with Shelley Nitschke and obviously Sophie Devine’s over here with New Zealand, so there’ll be a couple of us training up here in Brisbane,” she said. “Obviously we can’t get over to Perth, and we’ll join up with the squad in Sydney before we get stuck into that tournament.”

Azam lauds Riaz and Afridi, but calls for a better performance on the batting front

Danyal Rasool30-Oct-2020A despondent Brendan Taylor admitted he felt “lucky” to have received the Player-of-the-match award for his valiant century against Pakistan that took Zimbabwe close to a 1-0 lead. He pointed instead at the man who had ended his vigil at the crease, saying he believed Shaheen Afridi was a worthier recipient of the honour.”I feel very lucky to get this Man-of-the-match award as I feel Shaheen [Afridi] should have got it,” Taylor said at the post-match presentation. “You’re up against a very skillful attack at the death and they were too good at the end. It was that skill level at the death that took it away from us.”With little to split the two sides across the best part of 90 overs, it was the two bowling units’ contrasting performances in the final five overs at each innings that took Pakistan home. While Zimbabwe had been disciplined – if unspectacular – with the ball for the first 40 overs of the Pakistan innings, sloppiness crept in under pressure, and a few extras and full-tosses allowed Pakistan’s lower order to plunder 90 in the final ten overs. A more accomplished bowling attack may have smelled blood after reducing Pakistan to 205 for six, but Zimbabwe aren’t quite there yet.ALSO READ: Afridi tops Taylor to make it 1-0 for PakistanPakistan, meanwhile, very much are. Most notably Afridi, whose importance to this Pakistan side seems to grow larger with each passing game. When Zimbabwe required 88 off the final ten overs with six wickets in hand, they were ahead in the game at that stage, but Afridi turned things around.Benefitting from the added pressure after the dismissal of Wesley Madhevere by Wahab Riaz – another key point of differential between the sides – Afridi flummoxed Taylor with a perfectly disguised slower ball that was scooped scooped high up to mid-off, where Riaz dealt the killer blow. It was his third wicket of the night, and he’d come back for two more in his final over for his second five-wicket haul in ODI cricket. His captain Babar Azam was effusive in his praise, saying Afridi’s quality gave him comfort even when Taylor and Madhevere were flying high.”Shaheen Shah gave us an outstanding start, and at the finish, he was brilliant alongside Wahab Riaz at the death,” Azam said at the post-match press conference. “I had great belief in him because I know his qualities. Wahab Riaz is very experienced, but Shaheen is building up experience as well, now. That reassured me even when Zimbabwe were in a really strong position. That faith was vindicated in the way he finished the game off.”Azam also praised Taylor’s innings, terming it outstanding and saying it appeared as if he was a “one-man show” at times, but lamented Pakistan’s performance with the bat, promising improvement in the upcoming games. “When we started the innings the wicket was a bit two-paced,” he said. “Some balls came on to the bat really nicely but others didn’t. That puts you in doubt and a bit more hesitant to play your shots. I tried to remain positive but it was quite a tricky wicket to get set on, and that makes it challenging for the new batsmen.”The way we started was unfortunately not up to our expectations. But we were playing ODI cricket after a year and we were all a little rusty, and there are better performances to follow from us.”

The broadcaster has claimed that starting the BBL in the state was “commercially irrational”

Daniel Brettig02-Dec-2020Tasmania’s state government has emphatically denied allegations from Channel Seven that it provided financial inducement for Cricket Australia to play the opening rounds of the BBL in a hub in the island state.In an affidavit lodged with the Australian Federal Court on Monday, Seven’s head of sport Lewis Martin sought to outline the network’s claims that CA has breached its broadcast contract by not prioritising the broadcaster’s interests at every turn of a year that has been overturned in planning terms by Covid-19.Among the claims was that CA had scheduled the opening matches of the BBL in Tasmania, a decision Martin described as “commercially irrational unless CA were otherwise incentivised, presumably by arrangement with the government of Tasmania, to do so”.ALSO READ: Seven sues CA for not being centre of cricket universeCA has stated that commencing the BBL in Tasmania gave it far greater flexibility to travel elsewhere once the tournament gets underway, due to the state’s low instances of Covid-19 and low risk status with other state health authorities as a result.”It appears to me that CA’s scheduling decisions may have been motivated by CA’s broader interests in relation to the BCCI, Foxtel and also a positive incentive given to CA by the State of Tasmania,” Martin wrote. “If my belief is well-founded I expect that Seven’s damages claim may be for many millions of dollars given the significance of cricket coverage to Seven’s advertising revenue and the magnitude of the scheduling changes made by CA.”The Tasmanian premier, Peter Gutwein, was quick to respond to the allegations on Tuesday night. “The Government welcomes the BBL games being played in Tasmania, in view of the COVID-safe nature of our state and to provide opportunities for Tasmanians to experience world-class cricket. We are thrilled to host the 10 world-class games, which is a huge win for Tasmanians and puts our state on a global stage,” he said in a statement.”The Tasmanian Government continues to provide funding to Cricket Tasmania to support cricket development and the hosting of Big Bash League and Women’s Big Bash League matches in the state, but there were no incentive payments made.”Andrew Gaggin, the long-serving Cricket Tasmania chairman, followed up on Wednesday, referring to Seven’s allegations as “Trump-like” in their distortion. “The Trump-like allegations concerning the Tasmanian State Government are patently absurd and untrue,” Gaggin said. “The Tasmanian Government has certainly provided an incentive. Its proactive and responsible Covid-19 policies have ensured that Tasmania is one of the world’s safest places and the perfect location to host the start of the Big Bash.”However, let it be clear that no financial incentive was provided by the Tasmanian Government to Cricket Australia for BBL matches to be played in Tasmania. The Tasmanian Government continues to be a great supporter of all cricket in Tasmania.”Tasmania has long been the grassroots champion of Australian cricket, having provided a host of great players and the current Test captain. It is pleasing that Cricket Australia has acknowledged this and we look forward to an amazing start to the tournament.”Cricket Tasmania is an equal owner of Australian cricket and will continue to push for world class content to be played in this State. Tasmania has successfully hosted international cricket for over 30 years and will continue to do so.”

Pucovski “not just in good form, he’s in great form,” says selector Trevor Hohns

Andrew McGlashan12-Nov-2020David Warner will be sounded out about his opening partner for the Test series against India, but national selector Trevor Hohns has no doubt that Will Pucovski would be ready for the role despite just two matches in that position in first-class cricket.Those two games have, of course, brought the small matter of two double-centuries – 255 not out and 202 – in recent weeks which have propelled Pucovski to the brink of a Test debut.The big decision for the selectors is whether he now replaces the incumbent Joe Burns, who was part of the side all last summer and has a good partnership record alongside Warner: the pair averages 50.55 from 27 innings opening the batting.ALSO READ: Will Pucovski, Cameron Green and Sean Abbott named in Australia’s Test squad“Of course we talk to David, he’s a very senior player, he’s very experienced and it’s important he’s comfortable as well, provided we are, of course, with the person he opens with,” Hohns said. “It goes a long way in forming an opening partnership. You have to be comfortable with your partner and we certainly do consult players on such issues.”While insisting that the decision between Burns and Pucovski still had to be made – with the Australia A matches shaping as the deciders – Hohns was confident that from both a technical point and regarding his mental wellbeing Pucovski was ready for Test cricket.David Warner congratulates Joe Burns on his fifty•Getty Images

“Will’s in fantastic form. He’s not just in good form, he’s in great form. I think that’s undeniable,” he said. As far as Will goes, and that goes with all our players, we check their health and wellbeing. Not just Will but all of our players. Will’s good to go.”He has the game to handle that [opening] as we’ve seen already. Okay it’s only a couple of games but prior to that he’s been batting at No. 3, he certainly has the technique to handle the opening position if required.”One of the other questions facing the selectors is how to manage the all-format players through the six limited-overs matches which start the tour at the end of November. It is expected that those returning from the IPL – especially Warner, Steven Smith and Pat Cummins – may be rested at some point, but Hohns conceded there was a balancing act to appease broadcasters.”We’re currently working through that right now and waiting for the IPL players in particular to return home,” he said. “We are working on that at the moment in the background and, of course, we have to take into account the broadcasters and make sure if we are going to give a player a break or players a break, they’re not all missing from the one game.”While the majority of Australia’s Test squad have been part of the Sheffield Shield hub in Adelaide this week, those returning from the IPL will not have any long-form cricket before the Test series and instead will prepare with nets in Adelaide while the second Australia A game is going on in Sydney.

Plunket Shield at start of the season was “great for the guys to get into that mode of the longer form”, says Latham

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Dec-2020After their thumping 2-0 series sweep over West Indies, New Zealand have strengthened their chances of making to the final of the World Test Championship. But while Tom Latham, who captained them in the second Test in the absence of Kane Williamson, is excited about that “possibility”, he wants the side to look too far ahead and focus on the upcoming Pakistan series – which begins on Friday with three T20Is, followed by two Tests – instead.New Zealand (62.5%) are currently third on the WTC points table – behind Australia (82.2%) and India (75.0%). If they beat Pakistan by 2-0 as well, they will be pushing India to face favourites Australia at Lord’s next year. What has worked in New Zealand’s favour is they play Pakistan at home as well, and wouldn’t be travelling to Bangladesh anymore due to the Covid-19-enforced schedule rejig.Related

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“I guess that’s the way with the schedule of the Test Championship at the moment,” Latham said after the win in the second Test against West Indies. “In our conditions, we certainly know how to play in these conditions which is great. Whatever team we face with, we are certainly willing to learn on the back of previous performances. Looking forward to Pakistan in a week’s time – a new opposition, different challenges, so it’s important to adapt.”At the moment, we will enjoy this victory and then we will shift [focus] to Pakistan. I think the beauty of this group is we focus on each game at a time, each series at a time. When you look too far ahead, sometimes you can get caught a little bit. So our focus will shift to Pakistan and then whatever happens post that, then we will access. The goal at the start of the Test Championship was to get to the final, and if we play well and give ourselves a chance, that may be a possibility.”Just like coach Gary Stead did after the first Test, Latham called the side’s performance “clinical” as New Zealand wrapped up the second Test on the fourth morning to register their second successive innings victory. He also said that playing Plunket Shield at the start of the domestic season helped the players to get into the groove for Test cricket.”Clinical is probably the word to use again, I think,” Latham said. “The way we were able to set the game up here, in the Wellington with the bat, on the back of Henry’s [Nicholls] innings was outstanding. Put in to bat first, putting up 460 on the board was outstanding. We talk about from the batting point of view is that your first innings score is a big one and in these conditions, to put a score like that on the board was great and on the back of that, we were able to do the job with the ball. To put in a team to bat twice in two Test matches was not going to be easy for the bowlers in terms of the demands on their body but they kept coming time and time again and did the job with the ball yesterday and today, which was outstanding. So yeah, I think clinical is probably a good word to use.Kyle Jamieson celebrates after taking a wicket•Getty Images

“I think we are lucky we start our first-class season with four rounds of Plunket Shield, which is great for the guys to get into that mode of the longer form of the game. A fine testament to the guys who came back from the IPL, the way they were able to quickly adapt to this format. I think nowadays in international cricket, you need the ability to adapt as quickly as possible whatever that format may be. The way they were able to adapt to this format was great. The guys will shift quickly to T20s in a few days’ time and then we will have to shift back to the red-ball stuff. So, yeah, the ability to shift back and forth is vitally important in international cricket nowadays.”In both Tests, New Zealand went in with a four-pronged pace attack with Kyle Jamieson joining the tried-and-tested trio of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner. Jamieson finished the series as the second-highest wicket-taker with 11 strikes from two outings. In the first Test, he also scored his maiden Test half-century. His all-round performance meant he was named Player of the Series.”His contribution was outstanding,” Latham said. “In the short Test career he has had so far, he has come and had success straightaway. He is a guy who is always willing to learn, always willing to pick the brains of other guys in the group, which is outstanding. And to continuously learn and to come back this year with a few new skills is a testament to himself and he thoroughly deserves to be the Player of the Series.”I think his record probably says it [that he is an allrounder] and if he is able to do that with ball and bat which is great for our side. He has obviously done it with the ball initially, and then the performance he put on with the bat in the first Test was great and for us, if we are able to have contributions down the order, as many as possible, that’s obviously great. As I said, he is a guy who is willing to learn, willing to put in the yards in the training and I am sure he will keep continuing to work hard on that aspect of his game too.”

Captain hails team’s ability to overcome adversity after hard-fought 2-0 win

George Dobell25-Jan-2021Joe Root believes England will go into their series against India with “a huge amount of confidence” after completing victory in Sri Lanka.England’s six-wicket win in Galle represented their fifth successive Test victory both overseas and in Asia. And while Root, England’s captain, admitted his side’s preparations for the India series were not ideal, he felt their experiences in Sri Lanka held them in “good stead” as they go into it.India have not lost a Test series at home since England’s victorious campaign in 2012-13 – indeed, they have only lost once at home since the end of 2004 – and, despite a host of absences, recently completed a series victory in Australia. On England’s most recent visit in late 2016, Virat Kohli’s men exacted revenge for that previous loss with a 4-0 victory.But Root feels the character England have shown in adversity and the experience they have gained means they “couldn’t be in a better place” to take on such a challenge.”What we have got is a huge amount of confidence coming out of these two games,” Root said. “We’ve had to manage different situations and all of that will stand us in really good stead.”Now we’ve got four very important games against arguably the best team in the world in their own conditions. We’ll have to play right at the top of our game to win out there. But we couldn’t be in a better place to go and challenge them.”England overcame far-from-ideal preparation – including Moeen Ali’s pre-series Covid diagnosis and subsequent isolation, as well as rain during their intra-squad warm-up game – to prevail in Sri Lanka and Root knows they will have to do show similar “resilience” in India. They will arrive on Wednesday and spend six days in quarantine before they have just three days of training ahead of the first Test.James Anderson’s penetration in tricky seaming conditions was a big plus for England•SLC

“It’s going to be strange,” Root admitted. “We’ve got to be quite realistic: we are going to have seven or eight days with no cricket now with six days in quarantine. Then we will have three very important days of preparation ahead of the series.”We had a lot of things out of our favour [in Sri Lanka]. We lost the toss in both games and we managed to find a way in very difficult conditions with very little build-up to the series. In the past, we’ve been guilty of being slow starters, whether it be home or away. So for us to start as well as that was very pleasing, but also to keep growing as a team and improving throughout the two games is quite impressive.”Although Root himself was England’s stand-out performer with two big hundreds and 426 runs in the series all told, a range of different players produced telling moments with bat and ball – including Stuart Broad and James Anderson with their incisive, economical seam bowling; the spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess who picked up 22 wickets between them despite rarely being at their best, and a pair of junior batsman, Dan Lawrence and Dom Sibley, with a crucial half-century in each Test.Related

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“The most impressive thing this week was that, for a large proportion of the second Test, we were behind the game,” Root said. “For our seamers to be effective as they were on that wicket shows the improvement we have made in taking wickets in these conditions. We’ve struggled with that in the past.”More than anything, it was impressive the way we dealt with pressure on the last day, both in the field and with the bat. For our spinners to restrict them to a total we could chase down was a brilliant effort.”And then for our batters to stay as calm and as poised as they did and that partnership [of 75, between Sibley and Jos Buttler] towards the end was really impressive. It’s probably one of the hardest things to manage in this part of the world.”But Root is realistic that India will be another set-up for his improving team, as they build towards the first Test in Chennai on February 5.”Now the challenge is to replicate that over and over again as a team,” he said. “We have to look at this as a platform and not be happy with what we’ve achieved.”We’ve got so far to go, still. We have a lot of young players who are learning all the time. We have to take as much experience from this series as we can and keep looking to build and improve.”We’re going to need everyone to look to improve. We’re going to have different challenges, different surfaces, different situations to manage in India. So it is about reacting to that and having that same attitude, that same character and desire to go on and win like we have here.”Root’s confidence was exceeded by that of Mickey Arthur. The Sri Lanka coach said England “can go to India with every chance of winning” having been especially impressed with their “wonderful” bowling attack. But he agreed the difference between the sides was player of the series, Root.”I thought England have been really good,” Arthur said. “They’ve been very professional. They’ve some players in good form, their bowling attack is wonderful, their seam-bowling attack is great. We saw good signs for England with Dom Bess and Jack Leach and Root has batted at another level on this tour.”