Ian Bell says Joe Root’s consistency makes him a special player

Former England batsman, Ian Bell, has opined that the hosts of the Champions Trophy 2017 are yet to play to the best of their abilities and also said that Joe Root has been outstanding in the tournament. England beat New Zealand by 87 runs in a Group A fixture. Liam Plunkett claimed four wickets while Kane Williamson got to his 30th ODI half century. Earlier, Alex Hales, Jos Buttler and Joe Root slammed half centuries as England reached 310. With this win, England became the first side to reach the semi-final stage of the competition.

Before the tournament started, many people had championed England as the team with the most potential to win the cup. They have been a force to reckon with since their terrible outing in the 2015 World Cup. Under the leadership of Eoin Morgan, England totally transformed its limited-overs cricket and the results are clearly evident in the ongoing tournament.

In a column for the ICC, Bell wrote,” Many people, myself included, have championed England as potential winners of this tournament and today we all saw exactly why. In many ways, England’s 87-run victory was a complete team win, with the batsmen all largely contributing and all of our bowlers sharing the wickets.”

Joe Root is special 

He then praised the English Test skipper, saying that his consistency has been brilliant, and consistency is what makes a good player differ from a special player. ”Just a word about Rooty, his consistency is absolutely astounding. That’s what differentiates a very good player with a special player, and Rooty certainly falls into the latter category.”

Even if England lose to Australia on Saturday, they will still top their group. They will meet the runners-up of the other group – which is yet to be decided, in the first semi-final at Cardiff on Wednesday week. In 2013, England lost to India in the finals.