Harry Brook admits Joe Root was never in the squad to be part of England’s T20 World Cup squad.
The 35-year-old has provided a reminder of his enduring quality with scores of 51, 75 and an unbeaten 111 in the ODI series win in Sri Lanka.
Root is a master at building an innings on turning wickets and his form raised questions about whether England would miss a beat by not taking him to next month’s T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
Root himself acknowledged on Tuesday after the series win in Colombo that he is “a long way away” from the T20 squad, having not played in that format for England since 2019.
For exclusive stories and all the detailed cricket news you need, subscribe to The Cricket Paper website, digital edition or newspaper from just 14p per day.
Harry Brook (left) says Joe Root (right) was left out of the England T20 World Cup squad
(AP photo/Eromina van Jayersa).
Phenomenal
When asked if Root has ever made the World Cup squad, captain Brook said: “Probably not, no. He’s obviously such a phenomenal player.”
“He’s done it all over the place under all circumstances. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite in the mix.”
England travel to Pallekele, near Kandy, on Wednesday ahead of a three-match T20 series starting on Friday before their T20 World Cup campaign begins in Mumbai on February 8.
The 53-run win in Colombo secured a 2-1 win and only England’s second win in their last eight ODI series.
Brook hit 136 off 66 balls to build on Root’s brilliant 20th ODI century.
The captain is proud of the way his side responded after losing the series opener, especially after a tough winter that included the 4-1 Ashes defeat and their poor ODI form.
“Our heads never go down. We always want to keep moving forward. We always want to try to win every game,” Brook added.
“It’s about sticking to your process as best as possible. We’ve talked a lot about adapting to the surface. Today was a good example of that.
“To achieve such a score and then defend it and eliminate a team ranked fifth in the world was an exceptional effort. The boys can be very proud of that achievement.”
“We obviously haven’t won many series away from home recently. It’s nice to get that monkey off the back. That can give us a lot of confidence for the future.”
Courage
Yorkshire duo Brook and Root shared a sensational stand of 191 to take England to their match-winning total of 357 for three.
Brook hit nine sixes in his innings, taking apart the Sri Lanka attack and going from fifty to his total of 136 in just 26 balls.
He credited a net session with Root on the eve of the match to the way he handled the hosts’ spin attack.
“I had a good net session with Rooty. We were talking about different ways to play spin and different guards and stuff,” Brook said.
“I brought that into the game. I’m glad I had the courage to go out and do what I did in practice.
“It’s just trying to get access to different parts of the pitch. But when he’s behind the scenes it means a lot to the world and that helps a lot.”
“For a while I felt like I was trying to deviate too much. As we saw today, I have enough strength to push boundaries.
“It’s about having that confidence. Looking at the field and realizing that it’s actually not as far as you think.”
READ MORE: Harry Brook and Joe Root’s brilliance steers England to ODI series victory in Sri Lanka
#Harry #Brook #admits #Joe #Root #considered #Englands #T20 #World #Cup #squad