Root after Bairstow blasts England win in 3rd Test: Great to see him showing how good he is
England defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets in 3rd Test
Joe Root heaped praise on Jonny Bairstow after the latter led England to a seven-wicket win in the third Test against New Zealand on Monday.
Bairstow recorded a 30-ball half-century, the second-fastest by an English batter in Tests as England chased down New Zealand's target of 296 in 54.2 overs on Day 5 at Headingley, Leeds.
Root put up 111 runs with Bairstow for the fourth wicket in England's fourth innings. While Root scored 86 off 125 balls, the wicketkeeper-batsman scored a 44-ball 71. He scored a strike rate of 161.36 as he struck three sixes and nine fours.
"It was like some of the 50-overs stuff we normally play, he (Bairstow) is hitting the ball so well. I'm sure everyone were enjoying it. He's a phenomenal player, he has been for a very long time. It's great to see him showing to the rest of the world how good he is. Hopefully, he can keep moving forward on that trajectory," said Root, who was named England's Player of the Series.
The former England skipper finished with 396 runs in three Tests at an average of 99. He scored two centuries and was only behind New Zealand's Player of the Series winner Daryl Mitchell in the list of most runs. The BlackCaps batsman scored an incredible 538 runs at an average of 107.60, including three centuries.
"One of the great things about this series was the guys kept getting more and more confident. It's such fun to play and to be part of that. We are all love playing, it's great. It's important that we enjoy this series win. It's been a rocky road for the Test team for a while now.
If you can't enjoy a series like this, then what do you play for? It's a great group of fellows, we are all good mates. We should leave what's happened where it is and concentrate on looking at what this team has done in the last few weeks. Ben's been brilliant in these three games and I'm sire he'll have a plan for the next series and this game against India as well. Absolutely loving this, long may it continue," added Root in the same interview.
Ben Stokes: We'll play against India with same winning mindset
England next host India in a one-off Test before playing a six-match limited-overs series. Last year before covid suspended the Test series, India had gone 2-1 up with the final Test postponed. The rescheduled Test will now go underway on July 1 at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Speaking about that, England captain Ben Stokes said that the opposition will be different but his side will come out to play with the same winning mindset.
"It's gone really well. To walk away with 3-0 series win over the best team in the world is a special start. When I took over this job, it was about changing the mindset of the guys towards Test cricket, was about having fun. A huge amount of credit goes to Brendon (McCullum) and the backroom staff. Trent Bridge was fantastic. Being 55/6 and to do what we did the manner we did (here), that was something special.
Pottsy has taken it like fish to water. This game, he's been incredible. Broady, even at 36, bowled 50 overs this week. I wanted to push the lads to see what they were capable of. Fantastic to see Leachy taking 10 wickets. I have never seen a happier dressing room for an individual's success. Different opposition (India), we still have a series to draw. We'll come out with exactly the same mindset," added Stokes after England whitewashed New Zealand 3-0.