Joe Root Prepares For Ashes Challenge With One Eye On New Zealand Series

The star batter of England, Joe Root, is ready to take on the New Zealand challenge before heading to the all-important Ashes series. The current ODI games against New Zealand are not distracting Root’s focus, as he has already done plenty of preparations for the Ashes back at home. He is confident of making an impact in both series, as they are equally important to the England team.

Right now, Joe Root is focusing on the New Zealand series, as it is a big challenge for the England team that has been struggling in ODIs for quite some time. They had a very poor Champions Trophy, as well as 2023 ODI World Cup, in which they displayed a very disappointing performance.

Speaking about how Joe Root is preparing for the Ashes challenge while playing in the New Zealand ODIs, he said that the planning for the Ashes had already started back home.

"A lot of that prep's already started back home," Root explained how he is managing the current series, while keeping Ashes at the back of his mind. He further said that his method of preparation has changed a lot and is no longer the same as it was ten years ago.

"I think how I'd prepare now is different from how I would have done 10 years ago. A lot more mental. I've clearly played against a lot of their guys now. Know how they operate, know what they're likely to try to bring to the series,” said Joe Root.

He further explained that earlier, his analysis and preparations were mainly focused on technical things. In contrast to that, he now focuses more on the strategic aspects of the game. He likes to think more about the bowlers and precise match situations that could challenge him during the play.

"I used to be very technical in how I prepared. I'd want to make sure that everything felt lined up and my feet were in the right place, my head was in the right place, whereas now I'm a little bit more concerned about how I'm looking at the game, how I'm going to approach different situations, whether that be the surface, whether that be different bowler types, different angles, and being able to manage those different angles when they come wide of the crease. Things like that," said Joe Root.

When asked how he compares previous Ashes tours to the upcoming one, Root said that there is a difference between them all. He thinks that the upcoming Ashes tour will give the England team a new opportunity to beat Australia on their home turf.

"They're all different. I look at it at this time, and I'm in a completely different stage of my career. I'm no longer captain, I'm playing some really good cricket, and so are we. We're playing in a really exciting way. We've got a great group of players that we can go there and hit them with different tools than we've had on previous tours, so when you look at it like that, it's a really exciting prospect,” said Joe Root.

Australia currently has a strong home record against England, as they have won the majority of the Ashes matches played in Australia over the past few years. However, Root is not bothered by this record, as he thinks that there is an opportunity for England to do something magical this time.

"Clearly, Australia are really good in their own conditions, with a great record at home, especially against us, but that's the exciting bit right? There's an opportunity there to do something a bit different and hopefully achieve something really special," said Joe Root.

Talking about the New Zealand series, Root said that they cannot take the Kiwis lightly. He explained that New Zealand is a very strong team, so England cannot underestimate them at any cost.

"New Zealand is a very good team, and if you try to sleepwalk into it or you're preoccupied with what's around the corner, then they'll hurt us really badly. We want to keep making strides under Brooky after what was a difficult Champions Trophy. This is a great opportunity to build on what we started over the summer," said Joe Root.

The upcoming series against New Zealand will therefore be interesting to watch, as it will give us a glimpse of how Root is gearing up for the Ashes challenge. The ODI series is slated to start from October 26 and will run until November 01.