With a high-octane Ashes 2025-26 slated for later this year from November, the mind games surrounding it have already started. Retired Aussie opener David Warner recently took a dig at England batting great Joe Root for his struggles Down Under. Despite being a prolific Test batter and scoring a truckload of runs, Root has barely managed to be himself in Australia. The 34-year-old former England captain has scored just 892 runs in 14 games, averaging in the 30s and is yet to score a century there, the only country apart from Bangladesh where he has not crossed the three-figure mark yet.
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On the same lines, Warner sledged Root mentioning how Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood would bother him by targetting his front pad again and stated that the England batter will need to take the ‘surfboard off his front-leg’ in order to be successful on the Australian pitches.
However, Root was not the one to be silent and he fired back at Warner’s comments saying,
“I can’t have any control or say on how people see the game or talk in an interview, it is irrelevant. What more can I do about it? Just keep my surfboard out the way and make sure it is not a talking point in 100 days’ time.”
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While Root might have had a tough time to deliver in Australia, he is currently in tremendous form and England will heavily count on him as they aim to break a long 15-year jinx. England haven’t won the Ashes in Australia since their last success in 2010-11, while they last won an Ashes series 10 years back in 2015. In the most recent Ashes series in Australia in 2021-22, England lost 0-4.
With a lot at stake, Root is ready to shoulder responsibilities and he also fired a warning to the opposition ahead of the marquee series.
After a blockbuster five-match home Test series against India where scored 537 runs at an impressive average of 56.88, Root has vowed to turn his form around in Australia.
Speaking to ICC Cricket, Root said, “Having played in Australia a couple of times before, now going with 150-odd Test caps under my belt, I feel I couldn’t be more ready for it.”
He added, “The thing that stands out for me is I probably wanted it (a century) way too much the last couple of times. It took me away from what was important.”
