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Hate missing games of cricket for England: Root

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on

Root has played in every game on the tour of Australia bar one and England have a hectic schedule looming. © Getty

Joe Root has been withdrawn from England's T20 squad for the upcoming tri-series against Australia and New Zealand. Surrey all-rounder Tom Curran has been called in as replaacement for Root in the squad.

Root was originally selected in the squad for the series of four group games per team and a final but England's Test captain has been convinced by coach Trevor Bayliss that he needs a rest following a long tour down under. Root has played in every game on the tour of Australia bar one and England have a hectic schedule looming.

There is a tour to New Zealand next up in February and March followed by a packed summer programme involving Test and limited-overs series against India and Pakistan plus ODI matches against Australia. Next winter, England will travel to Sri Lanka.

Root does, however, remain committed to playing in the IPL for the first time during April and May instead of using that time to rest. He will enter this weekend's IPL auction at the base price of INR 1.5 Crore and is sure to be highly sought after.

The decision to miss several England matches rather than taking the opportunity to rest during the IPL was, Root admitted, a tough one to make. "I hate missing games of cricket for England," he said. "It is something that doesn't really sit well with me either. It was a long, hard decision that me and Trevor had to come to.

"You look at the amount of cricket that we have got coming up and the opportunity that the IPL brings and you almost have to look at it as more of an investment for my game and for all the England team moving forward.

"If being involved in that block of cricket, with everything that tournament brings, is going to add more to my game for the next four or five years then missing a few games here might be worthwhile."

Root's original selection in England's T20 squad owed much to his desire to play all formats and ensure he was still developing his game in T20 cricket. Root played just five T20 matches last year - four for England and one for Yorkshire - and believes the best way to ensure his skills stay up-to-date is to play the format more. There is obviously huge financial benefit to playing in the IPL, too.

"Of course, there is a money side to it, there is no point lying about it," he said. "That is obviously a benefit of playing in the IPL but that is not why I went into the auction. I really believe playing a block of Twenty20 cricket with that scrutiny, being under pressure for long periods of time against the world's players in that format would be a great opportunity to develop and learn my white-ball game.

"With the two major tournaments in white-ball cricket around the corner that is what going there is all about, to gain experience in the short form and work with other players around the world who have had a huge amount of exposure to Twenty20 cricket, and see some different coaches."

Since Andrew Strauss took over as Director, England Cricket, the ECB's attitude to their players playing in global T20 leagues has changed dramatically. When Strauss was captain of England, the ECB wanted to ensure the national team remained the players' main focus and the team's management had many run-ins with Kevin Pietersen over his desire to play more of the IPL and their insistence that he couldn't.

Now, England's best limited-overs players are actively encouraged to seek out opportunities to play T20 cricket in the belief that the various tournaments help develop their skills and opens the players up to new ideas and methods. There were eight England players picked up for last year's IPL and several have had stints in this year's Big Bash in Australia.

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