Joe Root wants England to shelve ‘rest and rotation’ policy ahead of the Ashes and India Tests

England Test skipper Joe Root reckoned the national team has to pull the plug on the ‘rest and rotation’ policy going into the next cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC). Starting August until mid-January 2022, the Brits are scheduled to take part in 10 Test matches, including the home series against India and the away Ashes against Australia.

The Three Lions, mostly, have had full-strength teams for T20I cricket this year, but the same hasn’t been the case in Test cricket. The 30-year-old Root said that England need to have their best players on the park to beat India and Australia over the next six months or so.

We’ll try to have our strongest squad available: Joe Root

“We are coming into a period of time now where rest and rotation is put behind us. Hopefully, if everyone is fit, we are going to have our best team available for what is to follow. That’s really exciting and something I’m very much looking forward to,” Root was quoted as saying in ESPNcricinfo.

“We have ten very hard Test matches against two brilliant opposition coming up but it is a great opportunity for us to play some strong cricket and if everyone is fit and available we will have a good team ourselves,” he stated.

“I’d like to think that, over the next five Test matches, we’ll be trying to play our strongest side or have our strongest squad available for those games. This is, I suppose, what you do it for: to ready yourself for this lead-in and for in particular that Ashes. To make sure everyone’s peaking for that, and these big games,” Root added.

Earlier this year, Root and Co failed to qualify for the final of the WTC after the series defeat against India. After missing out on the marquee game, Root believes that England have the firepower to go all the way in the next WTC cycle

England are currently taking part in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka that they are leading by 1-0 after their five-wicket win on Tuesday, June 29 at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street. Prior to that, they won the T20I series 3-0.