England's middle-order batter Joe Root gave a bizarre explanation on England's consistently poor performance in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 as the defending champions have only won one game in the mega event so far.
Root, 32, blamed the heat for his side's subpar display in the mega event and revealed that some of the players were struggling to breathe in Mumbai's heat and smog during their encounter against South Africa, which they lost by 229 runs.
“I’ve not played in anything like that before,” said Root. “I’ve obviously played in hotter conditions, and probably more humid conditions. But it just felt like you couldn’t get your breath. It was like you were eating the air. It was unique.
“You could see it with [Heinrich] Klaasen. You could see how much it took out of him, not being able to get back out onto the field.
“I mean you couldn’t get away from it. You walk out onto the field and your shirt’s soaking wet, and you have a lot heavier breath than you would do, and you know you’ve done your fitness and stuff, it’s not like you’re short on that. So you are very aware of it."
Root then further stated that leg spinner Adil Rashid was trying to get his breath back as he couldn't play in the extreme heat of Mumbai.
“I mean you couldn’t get away from it. You walk out onto the field and your shirt’s soaking wet, and you have a lot heavier breath than you would do, and you know you’ve done your fitness and stuff, it’s not like you’re short on that. So you are very aware of it,” said Root.
“Rash [Rashid], bless him, I don’t think was great going into the game. He put in a brilliant performance for us. Some of the noises he was making when he was walking back to his mark summed it up, really. Trying to get his breath back. It was tough, but that’s the sort of stuff that you come up against and contend with when you come out to play in India at this time of year.”
It must be noted that England's hope of playing the World Cup semi-final is on thin ice as they would not just need to win their remaining matches, but also win them by big margins because their net run rate (NRR) was heavily dented after a massive defeat to the Proteas.
- Joe Root
