Joe Root believes England can shake off any doubts over their ability to face quality spin bowling during their tour of Sri Lanka.
The seam-friendly conditions on home soil have often left England a little rusty against quality spin bowlers in the sub-continent, but England’s Test captain believes the current crop of England stars are able to banish such notions.
The first ODI was washed out after 15 overs but England’s batters are likely to get more of a chance to show what they can do against Sri Lanka spinners Akila Dananjaya and Lakshan Sandakan this Saturday.
“To do that it’s important to understand the rhythm of batting here is very different to back home. The way we structure setting a target or chasing one down might be very different to how we go about it at home.”
Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal believes the ‘mystery’ of twirlers Dananjaya and Sandakan could give them the edge over England, who have the more orthodox tweak of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, but Root isn’t paying too much attention.
“Every bowler you’ve never faced before is mystery, because you don’t know what you’re going to get,” he added. “You can get yourself out by talking yourself out. Most importantly you prepare, watch the footage, see how they operate and go and play accordingly.
“But I think Rash would be a bit disappointed by saying there’s no mystery about how he bowls. He has a few tricks in his bag and I’m sure you’ll see that on these surfaces.”
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