Former England captain Michael Vaughan has given a stern warning to ICC number 1 ranked Test batter Joe Root to get ready for the Jasprit Bumrah challenge next summer. Root has been a force to reckon with in Test cricket in the post-COVID era and has raced ahead of his other contemporaries in the 'Fab Four' race. He has scored 4567 runs in 49 Tests since 2021, including 17 centuries, half of what he has scored in his Test career, which began in 2012. However, the one bowler who has troubled him the most in this phase is India's Jasprit Bumrah.

During England's tour of India earlier this year, Bumrah dismissed Root thrice and constantly troubled him with his disciplined line and length.

The England cricket team has adopted a fearless batting approach since the arrival of Brendon McCullum, but despite that, they rely heavily on Root to anchor and stabilise innings. England's success rate is highly dependable on Root's batting form.

In the recently concluded third Test against Sri Lanka, Root failed to score big and was dismissed for 13 and 12 across two innings; as a result, England crumbled under pressure and lost the match by 8 wickets.

Vaughan wasn't impressed with England's batting performance in the third Test and pointed out the over-reliance on Root in the team despite all the swashbuckling players around him.

“This week really hit home to me how important Joe Root is to this batting lineup. His batting is the key. All these flamboyant players around him get flamboyant fifties. But without the glue at No 4 getting the huge amount of runs he does, they are knackered,” wrote Vaughan in his column for The Telegraph.

Jasprit Bumrah enjoys bowling at Root

The former English skipper further claimed that Root can rescue the team every time, especially when he is up against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins (in Australian conditions).

“He can’t do it every week, and he didn’t do it this week. Jasprit Bumrah enjoys bowling at Root, and could severely limit his output next summer. The same goes for Pat Cummins in Australia, where Root has never scored a hundred. England have to have ways of succeeding when Root doesn’t make big runs. On the basis of this game, they don’t,” he added.

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