England’s Test captain Joe Root has told his teammates not to rest on their recent laurels and instead be at their best in the three-match Test series against Pakistan that starts at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Root's men are a well-oiled unit with an entire Test series under their belt while Pakistan have not played a Test since February. The home side's captain agrees that the advantage lies with them but does not want his men to feel bullish.
“I think that naturally having played some cricket and competitive crickets will definitely serve us well going into this series [against Pakistan] and, probably gives a little bit of that,” Root replied when asked if his side will have an advantage against Pakistan.
He said that playing in own conditions and having success at Old Trafford ground in the previous two Test matches gives his team confidence but he also reminded that it was important that his charges do not let that get to their heads.
“We're very aware that Pakistan are a very talented team and will be very much up for the series and we don't sort of stroll into this game with very much on it from the start,” he said.
He also praised Pakistan’s side and highlighted that Pakistan’s bowling line-up is very skillful and can pose challenge to England.
The English captain said that he’s aware of the fact that Pakistan is a very good side and they’ve done well against England at home and away conditions and the series will be challenging one for them.
“They're very difficult for us to play against, and they've had a lot of success in English conditions and they've also got some fantastic players who have done some special things here, but we're playing some very good cricket at the minute was full of confidence to play as well as we have done for a while,” he said while previewing the series.
“They've got some very good seamers and some experienced spinners as well within the squad. So, they'll be a different challenge.”
“Then they’ve got people like Mohammed Abbas, who is proven on previous tours here and he knows the conditions very well and will look to exploit similar movements in terms of that ball. And that, you know, it has a lot of challenges, but we're very aware of that. And we'll look to that the best we can,” he mentioned
The England captain also spoke high of Pakistan’s young fast bowler Naseem Shah saying that he has seen his videos, calling him an "exciting prospect".
“It's important that we just start well as a group against them and individually and know what he's going to try and do. I'll try and have an idea of what he's going to do,” he said when asked how England is planning to counter pace attack of young Naseem Shah.