Joe Root: Pain of defeat inspires me

England’s most consistent and the World No. 1 batsman in Tests Joe Root says that the pain of defeat has been an inspiration for his rise to form making him a crucial asset for England in the ongoing Ashes.

Root was a part of the team that was handed over a 5-0 drubbing in Australia 18 months ago. A series the 24-year-old would surely like to forget, starting the series with a lot of responsibility on his young shoulders and eventually being dropped for the final test at Sydney.

“Personally, that was the inspiration,” Root said as he reflected on victory at Trent Bridge.

“You want to make sure you’re not in that position again. It was a tough tour. That’s something that has always been in the back of my mind. So when you get into a position of strength, you want to make sure you drive it home. It’s definitely one of the reasons why this is so enjoyable.”

The series in which England suffered the white wash saw Joe Root manage an average of 27.42 and only one half century saw him being replaced by Gary Ballance.

“Knowing what we went through there – all that hurt and pain – that was one of the things that drove us forward,” Root said.

“You know what it’s like to be on the wrong side of things, so if you’re doing well, you want to make sure you drive it home.

“I did make a few changes after Australia,” he said.

“But the main thing I did was stick to my strengths. I made sure that I worked on all the shots I thought were my bread and butter and I made them as good as they could possibly be. Rather than try to have the perfect game, I was going to make sure that, if balls came into areas where I felt comfortable scoring, I was going to make sure I made it count.”

Speaking about the speculation of him being handed over the captaincy he said “As far as captaincy is concerned, Cook has done exceptionally well,” Root said.

“He’s just won the Ashes for the second time in three attempts, so hopefully he’ll be in charge of us for a long time. He’s doing a fantastic job leading this group of players.

“There have been times when we haven’t backed him up as we should have done on the pitch, but thankfully this series we have. And hopefully that will continue going forwards.

“I’m happy with my game. But it is nowhere near perfect. I have a lot of things I want to work on. You have personal goals. And of course, to be rated No. 1 batsman in the world is nice. But it is nowhere near the front of my mind. It’s about having days like this and being part of something as special as this with this group of players. We all thoroughly enjoy seeing each other doing well. You don’t get a better feeling than this.”