“Breathtaking, lovely place, lovely scenery. It’s a great way to finish this tour.”
Joe Root, whose performance has been one of the positives for England this season, sounds every bit honest as he describes the experience of being at this hilly destination.
The 22-year-old, having earned praise from Virat Kohli on his first tour, has come up with a series of confident performances. In his only Test appearance, he produced scores of 73 and 20 not out at Nagpur.
Returning with the team for the ODI series, Root has so far scored 132 runs in four outings with an unbeaten 57 (at Mohali on Wednesday) being the highest. A middle-order batsman, he is yet to taste success with his off-spinners in the series.
Obviously, there is no dearth of motivation for Root to come up with a strong performance on Sunday.
“As individuals, we have got a lot to play for. We have a big series coming up in New Zealand. A lot of people will try to make a strong case for that. Any international game, you want to win. Everyone in the change-room will have that mentality going into tomorrow,” said Root, who is part of the England teams in all three formats.
Looking back at the series, Root makes no secret of his feelings.
“Obviously very disappointed with the way the series has gone as a team. It’s been nice to score some runs and put in a few performances but it always feels a little bit better when you come out winning.”
Asked about how he has been dealing with his meteoric rise, Root said, “It’s all happened really quickly for me. Just trying to find my feet and take it in my stride. It’s what you dream about as a kid.
“Coming into the international arena, you have got to adapt and going forward as an international cricketer, that’s what I am aiming to do.
“Try and do whatever is required for the team — if it means rebuilding in the middle or trying to get on with it towards the end, try to find a way to do it successfully. Just try to do what is required.
“You don’t know how many international games you are going to play so I just want to enjoy every minute, absorb it and make the most of it.”
