Joe Root joins England squad for the limited-overs series

The mainstay of England batting line-up Joe Root eventually arrived in India and is set to travel with the squad to Pune on Friday for the first of the 3 ODIs on January 15 (Saturday). Root who stayed back in England for a few extra days for the birth of his father won’t be seen donning the English colours in the 2nd warm-up match against India A led by Ajinkya Rahane.

Root will be an integral part of the England squad in both ODIs and T20I series. “Joe Root has arrived. He is at the ground (Brabourne Stadium),” the team’s media manager was quoted as saying by News 18. England is expected to field 12 men for the warm-up game with eleven allowed to bat, while India has added two more players to the list of 12 which the national selectors picked on January 6. The two players included making it a 14 member squad from 12 are Siddarth Kaul and Sujit Nayak.

Kaul was part of the India A squad led by MS Dhoni in the 1st warm-up match in Mumbai. Despite being in the team he failed to make it to the XI so this will provide a very good opportunity for the youngster to prove his credentials. England played pretty well in the 1st game against India A which was Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s last match as a skipper in Indian colours. Despite conceding more than 300 runs to India, England chased down the stiff target with relative comfort.

The form of Jason Roy and Sam Billings will definitely worry the Indian bowlers but they will be pretty pleased with the fact that MS Dhoni showed glimpses of the old vintage Dhoni when he burst onto the scene in 2005. With Virat Kohli taking over the reign from Dhoni, he will be able to play more freely and express himself just like the way he used to do in his initial years.

Also read: MS Dhoni a hero for India and the world, says Jason Roy