Joe Root Defends Pakistan Amid Series Sweep at Edgbaston

Joe Root walked into his pre-match press conference with a series already wrapped up and a wounded opponent on the ropes. He walked out having thrown a firm arm around that opponent’s reputation.

On the eve of the third Test at Edgbaston, the England captain pushed back hard against the growing narrative that Pakistan have shown “no fight” in a lopsided series that stands 2-0 to the hosts.

“Absolutely we have found (Pakistan) a challenge,” Root said, bristling at the suggestion that England have been up against a soft touch. “I think that's a bit disrespectful to both Pakistan as a team and to us as a team.”

The numbers are brutal. Pakistan have not reached 200 in any of their four innings. England’s pace pack – Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson – have ripped through them, setting up an innings-and-103-run hammering at Headingley and a 194-run victory at Lord’s. The series is done with a Test to spare.

But Root was in no mood to let that be framed as Pakistan simply rolling over.

“I don't think we've allowed them to get into games because of how well we've played,” he said, pointing to England’s sharp reading of conditions and situations. England have seized the initiative early in each match and never loosened their grip.

Pakistan, meanwhile, arrive in Birmingham in a state of flux. The Pakistan Cricket Board has torn up the script mid-tour: seven players sent home after the Lord’s defeat, Test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed removed, white-ball coach Mike Hesson parachuted in to lead the side for the finale. Seven new players have been added, five of them uncapped at Test level.

It has prompted some observers to label this one of Pakistan’s weakest Test sides in decades. Root rejected that line just as firmly.

“I think it's very easy to say one team is excellent and one team is poor. Normally it's somewhere in the middle,” he said. Performances, in his view, should not be painted in extremes. England have been outstanding; that does not automatically make Pakistan feeble.

“If one team has been outstanding then the other team can't have been poor and vice-versa. I think it's important to live in that middle area somewhere and understand that that's not how it is,” he added.

The message to his own dressing room was clear: respect the opposition, respect the occasion, and don’t drift into celebration mode a Test early.

“Regardless of what's happened over the last two games, this week it's a completely different proposition for us,” Root said. A new coach, fresh faces, nothing to lose – Pakistan’s final act of the tour carries the air of a free swing.

Root has seen enough of Pakistan cricket over the years to know that chaos off the field can sometimes sharpen them on it.

“There's a very talented group of players in that dressing room and you've got to be ready for it, so we'll make sure that we are.”

Series won, momentum theirs, crowd behind them – everything points England’s way at Edgbaston. Root, though, is preparing for a fight that many outside the camp have already written off.