England, according to Root, will go to Lord's with confidence.
Despite feeling England had a decent opportunity of winning the first Test on the last day at Trent Bridge, Joe Root was not too disappointed with a draw and thinks his squad will travel to Lord's in a more confident attitude having grown into the first meeting.
On the last day in Nottingham, no play was possible, and the rainy weather ultimately prompted the umpires to call it a day at 3.44pm. At 52 for 1, India were favourites to get the 157 runs needed for victory, but Root believed England still had a chance on a pitch that aided fast bowlers throughout the game.
"From my viewpoint, it seemed like we might have maybe had 40 overs at one point, and I believe in that period, it felt like we'd have been able to generate nine chances on the surface like that," he added. "I'd be lying if I said India wasn't in the driving seat going into today, but we know on a wicket like that, a couple of wickets in a cluster, and of course that game can turn on its head."
"Final day, the pressures of batting on a fifth day wicket, things could, very quickly, have fallen in our favour, and we certainly believed that we'd be able to create nine more chances."
If we'd been good enough in the field and taken those, we could have been sat here one-nil up, but unfortunately the weather has won."
England will not be too disheartened to be heading to Lord's all square, despite their disappointing first innings performance with the bat. Root admitted that his batsmen had underperformed, but said the second innings, when England made more than 300, was a different storey.
"You could see guys a little bit more relaxed, a little bit more clear about how they want to go and play and certainly feel like going into the next test match if we can carry that forward then you'll see some better performances,
" The captain said, praising his bowling attack, especially Ollie Robinson, who took five wickets in India's first innings. "Throughout the game, I felt Ollie bowled really effectively," Root continued. "He has a unique combination of qualities - he has a very high release point, he makes things happen, he makes the ball nip about, and his accuracy in this game was amazing; he did a fantastic job."
Robinson was part of a four-man pace assault, with spinner Jack Leach once again left with the refreshments. Before the game, Root stated that balancing the side without Ben Stokes, who is out indefinitely, was a difficult assignment, and he revealed afterwards that England are still attempting to find a favoured combination.
Something we'll keep an eye on, he explained. "We want to try to find something reasonable sooner rather than later, but depending on the circumstances, we may have to change our stance significantly, or we may not. We may show up at Lord's and find things fairly similar."
More may be added in the future. We must be flexible as well as realistic. And the guys who are given opportunities must look to stand up and try to win games for England."
One player who, if he plays at Lord's, needs to do just that is Zak Crawley, who is averaging 11 for the calendar year and, despite shaping up well in the first innings, looked all at sea in the second before Jasprit Bumrah knicked him off.
"When I think back to the early parts of my career, the games truly challenge you," Root remarked. "You have to keep finding ways of, first and foremost, making sure it's as secure as you want it to be, but ultimately you have to be a very strong character, and I think Zak is certainly that. He's got great maturity at a young age.
He has to keep looking at bringing that to the forefront of his game when he goes out there and plays in the manner that we all know we can." He's proven to everyone that he's capable of performing at this level. And the next time he goes out there, he has to make sure he believes in it and appreciates the opportunity to go and make huge runs again."
Root would neither confirm or rule out any additions to England's team for the second Test, which would be more challenging given the COVID regulations, but he also did not rule it out. Over the following 24 hours, discussions will take place. Chris Woakes is not likely to be fit until the third Test, but Moeen Ali might be included to aid with the balancing issue that England is currently suffering with, according to Root.
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