England captain Joe Root has backed under-pressure Rory Burns and Jack Leach to rebound from their bad forms in the series-opening defeat in Brisbane. Root said both the players are capable to make strong come back in the day-night second Test at Adelaide Oval.
“Rory is a very strong character, you can’t doubt that side of his game,” Root told reporters in Adelaide on Tuesday, two days before the start of the pink-ball Test. “He’ll come back in and want a response and want to put some big scores on the board.””
Stuart Broad and James Anderson were rested in Brisbane and both pacemen are expected to come in for Adelaide but Root would not rule out Leach retaining his place in the side.
“I’m sure he’ll want to respond and he’ll want to get back into the series and have an impact. Some of the grounds that we will be going to from this point onwards should offer a lot more for him and bring spin into it as well,” the England skipper said.
Root said his batsmen should feel more comfortable against the swinging pink ball after they struggled with the bounce at the Gabba.
“One thing, as we’ve spoken about with the pink ball, it can swing a bit more and seem a bit more, which is something that we should be used to and we should know how to manage,” he said.
