IND vs ENG: Gooch claims Alastair Cook would still make England's XI

IND vs ENG – Graham Gooch England Openers: Graham Gooch has slammed England’s woeful top order after their continued failures in the ongoing series against India. Rory Burns, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley have all struggled with Joe Root handling the bulk of the run-scoring. Fomer England captain Gooch has taken a dig at his own England team, saying, Alastair Cook retired 3 years back but he is still good to open for this team – Follow India vs England Series LIVE Updates on InsideSport.co

Gooch believes Cook, 36 and three years retired from the international game, would still get in the current team. ‘He’d still play if he was available, of course he would,’ says Gooch to The Daily Mail.

Also Read: India Playing XI 3rd Test: R Ashwin likely to make a comeback replacing wicket-less Ravindra Jadeja

IND vs ENG: Graham Gooch takes a dig at his own England team, ‘Alastair Cook retired 3 years back, good to open for this team’

IND vs ENG – Graham Gooch: Why Gooch has slammed England openers? Gooch is very disappointed with the England batting, especially the openers. According to him, England is getting too reliant, too dependent on one man i.e Joe Root.

The former England opener said the top 3 Rory Burns, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley need to go back to the drawing board and figure their batting.

“Every one of those cricketers works hard, trains hard, prepares themselves. It’s not lack of effort but things like attitude, technical ability, knowledge and concentration all come into play, especially for an opening batsman because one mistake and it’s the end of your day. “

Gooch said, “All I can say is that you go to some dark places in cricket because it’s an individual sport within a team game. You can over think it a lot. Generally simple is best. You have to have a simple plan and a clear, strong mind to deliver. If you’ve got a confused mind, and I’m not saying they have because I don’t know, but if you’ve got a confused mind you’re in trouble.”

England Problems at the TOP – Nothing new!

Since 2019 14 different top 3 combination used by England
England top 3 are averaging 19.36 per player in 2021
This is second worst figure since 1906

While the England legend has backed Root to continue his good form, he has nailed down the need for top-order runs and backed the call ups of Dawid Malan and Haseeb Hameed.

‘They’ve got to play him for the rest of the series because you don’t bring someone in and leave them out after one game,’ he says.

Malan, too, is a selection he likes. ‘He’s got a technique where he plays the ball late, plays straight,’ says Gooch. ‘He’s a composed player, he knows his own game, he knows how to score runs, he’s had a bit of success at Test level before. Just because someone has had a go doesn’t mean they’re completely shot and can’t come back.’

Thoughts on our squad for the third Test against India? 🤔

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— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 18, 2021

Also Read: IND vs ENG 3rd Test: Shoaib Akhtar’s fan Saqib Mahmood targetting place in England Playing XI, says ‘dream to play test cricket’

India vs England: Gooch backs world class Joe Root to continue good form

Graham Gooch said that England are heavily reliant on Joe Root and talks from his experience that there is an added responsibility to deliver all the time. The former England opener said,

“We’re too reliant on the one person. I have had that experience and that’s not a complaint but at certain stages of my career there was a greater responsibility on having to deliver. As a player, you can be in the best form of your life but you can’t deliver all the time and that expectation is not helpful.”

Gooch further backed Root to continue his run-scoring run despite the pressure on him to succeed. He labelled the England captain as “world-class” and said that the onus will on Root because he is 60-70per cent of England’s batting. The England captain’s form during the opening two Tests has been in stark contrast to his team-mates, the captain scoring 386 runs at an average of 128.66, while the rest have contributed 513 at 13.86.

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