Joe Root believes that England's limited-overs cricketers are being forced to "learn on the job" due to a reduced exposure to 50-over matches. Root, who was instrumental in England's four-wicket victory over India in the second ODI on Thursday with a score of 99, pointed to the structure of domestic cricket as a contributing factor.
The domestic One-Day Cup in England now runs concurrently with the lucrative Hundred competition, effectively turning it into a developmental tournament. Root noted that collectively, England's top six batters in the recent match had significantly fewer List A (which includes ODIs and major domestic white-ball competitions) appearances than their Indian counterparts.
"I think that's one of the biggest challenges for this team and the young guys coming through," Root, 35, stated after the match. "Not just now, but in the next little while, anyone coming into this team does not have the wealth of experience and understanding of 50-over cricket because we are not exposed to it any more. There is not that element of grounding that happens before you get to this level, which happens elsewhere around the world, so it's understanding that there are going to be times where guys have to learn on the job and they have to learn quickly."
England successfully chased a target of 234 in the 45th over. Root's innings, characterized by adept strike rotation and punishing loose deliveries, mirrored the approach of Virat Kohli's 65 in India's innings. This style of play was a departure from the aggressive batting often seen from England's 2019 World Cup-winning squad but underscored the necessity of adaptability.
"You've got to be brave and know that you can absorb pressure, because you have always got more time than you think and you can really make things up," Root added. "The more gears you can have, then it'll make you a better player in the long run. Some guys will get out their tricks, sometimes you'll be on a pitch where 400 is a par score which can happen. But you've got to have range and the hardest bit for guys coming through in English cricket is that everyone who plays T20 cricket can manipulate the field and take the game on - but when you find yourself in a situation like that, a wicket like that, can you find a way of doing it ugly and just getting over the line?"
The conditions in the second ODI were described as tricky, presenting a stark contrast to some of the high-scoring encounters seen in recent years. Root emphasized the importance of a varied approach to batting to succeed in different match situations.