England captain Joe Root still ‘living the dream’ ahead of his 100th Test against India in Chennai

Joe Root says he is “still living the dream” as he prepares to lead England in his 100th Test match against India in Chennai.

The England captain made his international debut at Nagpur in December 2012 and a little over eight years later, he is back in India with a further 98 Tests to his name.

While he has gone on to rack up over 8,000 runs and 19 centuries, playing his part in two Ashes wins and captaining his country to a number of other memorable series triumphs, Root still looks at that game in Nagpur as the standout moment of his Test career so far.

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“Walking out for the first time in an England shirt would probably be the proudest moment,” he told reporters. “I look back at walking out to bat and seeing Kevin Pietersen at the other end, someone I watched as a teenager and as a kid growing up, and I just couldn’t stop smiling.

“I was living my childhood dream and have been ever since. Whenever I’m going through a lean spell or things aren’t quite falling for me, I try to look back at that moment and remember what that feeling was like – almost try and embrace that really excitable young lad and bring that into the current situation.

“I still am living the dream. That’s probably the one thing that stands out and I will always go back to and look fondly on.”

Root’s position in the batting order has been a point of discussion throughout his England career and while he has been able to settle into his preferred No 4 spot since Chris Silverwood took over as head coach in the autumn of 2019, an injury to Zak Crawley could see the 30-year-old Yorkshireman moved again.

Crawley will miss the first two matches in the four-Test series with a wrist injury sustained in a “freak incident” as he slipped on the floor of the dressing room, but there has been no final decision taken on who will replace the Kent batsman at No 3.

“Everything is on the table in terms of selection, we’ll weigh things up when we get to the ground, look at the conditions, look at the surface again and try and have real clarity going into the game,” Root said.

“There are a number of different things, we’ve got some brilliant players, brilliant options to choose from – we’ll look at the balance of the side and things as well. These will all be things we discuss over the course of today and make sure that we’re really happy with the team that we take into the game tomorrow.

“There are a number of ways we can look at it, a number of different combinations we can go with. That’s a really exciting part of it, we’ve now got a number of good players who can bat in different positions and fill different roles so I think it would be silly to write off anything right now.”

Whatever the make up of the team, Root knows England will have to be at their best to compete with a formidable India side, who overcame the loss of a number of key players to record a famous win over Australia last month.

England have been in good form themselves though, winning their last five Test matches away from home, and rather than be concerned by the strength of their opponents, Root believes his side can take inspiration from them.

“I think a lot of sides will look at that series that has just happened in Australia and take a huge amount of confidence from it,” the England skipper added. “Huge credit to India for going there and winning, it’s a very difficult place to go and win, we all know that, but teams will see that and know that it is possible to go and win away from home.

“There is a lot of pressure on sides hosting, it’ll be the same for us in England with some brilliant sides coming over.

“There is a bit of pressure around that but should embrace that challenge, that should excite us; there are so many great opportunities that come with that and, as a side and as individual players, when you’re given that opportunity to play, you’ve just got to try and maximise that opportunity, try and make that count.

“One of the things we have had in the recent past is that competition for places, a bit more depth within our squad and we’re not heavily reliant on certain individuals, which might have been the case a few years ago.

“It’s a really exciting time for the team and guys have just got to really grasp those opportunities if they get them.”

Joe Root is the special guest on The Hussain and Key Cricket Show from 6.30pm, Thursday on Sky Sports Cricket.

(c) Sky Sports 2021: England captain Joe Root still ‘living the dream’ ahead of his 100th Test against India in Chennai