Mitchell Johnson believes England’s star batter must stop playing Bazball

Mitchell Johnson makes a huge claim on the way Joe Root bats in the current England lineup. The former Australian pacer believed that Root must not adapt the Bazball way to play in Tests, as he believed the star batter to be more of a ‘correct’ player. Johnson equated Root to some of the star batters of Australia like Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.

“Root is their Smith or Marnus Labuschagne,” said Johnson in an interview. The former Australian bowler was of the opinion that Root’s game has gone down since the duo of Stokes and McCullum took over the reign of England. Johnson felt that the captain-coach duo of Ben and Brendon has backed the star batter to express himself in the middle.

While Mitchell appreciated the backing from the management, he added that a player like Root, who is more of a correct player, must bat more sensibly. He felt that Root must play out himself in the middle and leave the ball wherever necessary. “He is a more correct player. Someone who needs to get himself in, watch the ball and leave it when required,” added the former pacer in his statement.

Mitchell Johnson asks Joe Root to be sensible

Johnson further believed that one need not be aggressive from the word go to maintain a good run rate in a Test match. Johnson claimed that he has learnt from the Australian team of the 1990s and the 200s that one can play conventional shots and still maintain a good strike rate in the middle. The star pacer claimed that being aggressive as a batting unit is nothing new in Test cricket.

Johnson claimed that the Australian team of the 2000s was the prime example of an aggressive batting unit. But he felt that the batters of Australia used to know what worked for them. The winner of the Ashes 2013 was of the opinion that the mix of caution and aggression is what works for the batters and believed that it works for a batter like Root.