Rob Key believes England need to find a player like Joe Root for T20Is

Former English cricketer Rob Key has cited the key concern for the English team in the shortest format. The former player has conceded that the team lacks a quality batsman in the middle-order who could nurdle around for quick runs. His concerns have come to the fore after England lost their first match of the Trans-Tasman tri-series against Australia.

The high flying English side had arrived in the match riding on the confidence of their ODI series win. The defeat has certainly pushed them on the back foot. Rob Key noted that there is no batsman like Joe Root in the English side for this series. Root has been a consistent run getter in the middle order who anchors the innings well. Root has been rested for this particular series.

“Joe Root’s not playing in this T20I series, he was rested for it. You always had that runscorer in the middle, someone who can just find a way to score runs. Someone has to take that role on. Now you cannot have five Joe Root’s in a T20 side or people batting the way he did, but you have one and the rest can all play their shots around him,” Rob Key quoted while speaking on Sky Sports.

Innings of substance needed

Commenting further on the same note, the former cricketer admitted that it is impossible to be consistent in the shortest format as one has to always think about the big hits. He feels that there are enough players who can go for the big hits. All that the England team needs is someone to play an innings of substance and anchor the innings around him.

“Someone has to take that role you can’t have everyone coming out and swiping at ball after ball after ball because they are not going to be consistent in a volatile format. So someone has to take on that role and get seventy or eighty in sixty balls rather than trying to get 70 or 80 in 30 balls and that allows everyone else to play around you. That’s all they have to do, they are still a very good side in white ball cricket,” Key conceded further.

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