Published: Nov 18, 2018, 10:48 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 18, 2018, 10:47 PM (IST)
After claiming England’s first series win in Sri Lanka in over 17 years and first win in Asia for six years, skipper Joe Root is aiming for the No.1 spot in ICC Test rankings.
England are currently in third spot in the ICC Test rankings.
“We have to keep looking to improve. We don’t want to stand still – we have seen this group grow in the last six to eight months but we are not the finished article. We want to get to No 1 in the world at some point and we are going to have to be really consistent in all parts of the world to do that,” said Root.
England notched up their second consecutive Test series win with a 57-run win in the second Test at Pallekele with spinners Jack Leach and Moeen Ali sharing nine wickets to bowl Sri Lanka out for 243, who had to chase down 301 to level the series.
“If we keep the same attitude, drive and competition for places we will give ourselves a really good chance of getting what we want. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys,” added Root.
The skipper notched up his 15th Test hundred, setting the base for the win.
“We said we were going to come out here and play bold cricket, be courageous at times, and everyone has bought into that and we have seen the rewards. It would be very easy to talk a good game but we have backed it up as a whole squad – not just the 11 on the field,” he said.
Root also pointed out the depth in the current England squad stating that 17 guys could walk into the team and wouldn’t feel out of place.
“All 17 guys could walk into the team and wouldn’t feel out of place. The beauty of this team is the depth we have in our batting – [Adil] Rashid is coming in at 10 at times and he is more than capable of making big scores. There is no sense of ‘leave it to someone else’ – guys have stood up and shouldered that responsibility really well.”
