Alastair Cook voices concerns over Joe Root's struggle with 'Bazball' style

Former England captain Alastair Cook expresses apprehensions about Joe Root's challenges in adjusting to the aggressive 'Bazball' style, noting a potential loss of balance and departure from his natural game during the ongoing Test series against India.

Alastair Cook, England's highest Test run-getter, raises concerns about Joe Root's struggle with the 'Bazball' style led by skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum. Cook emphasizes that Root, despite being England's best batsman, seems desperate to conform to the aggressive approach, leading to a potential loss of balance and departure from his usual tempo in the ongoing Test series against India.

"He is England's best batsman there's ever been in all formats – but he does struggle sometimes with the tempo of this Bazball era," Cook, who is England's highest Test run-getter, said on 'TNT Sports' channel.

"He sees all these other people playing these aggressive shots, which suit their style. Rooty has got 11,500 Test runs, he's brilliant, but he's so desperate to fit in to what Ben (Stokes) and Brendon (McCullum) are doing that sometimes I don't think he gets his balance of attack and defence right," the owner of 12,472 Test runs said.

"He was on 16 off nine balls and he doesn't normally strike at that rate – he's normally striking at 75 to 80, which is still incredibly high for a Test match strike-rate, with zero risk.

"That's when I love watching Joe Root bat."

"When he gets in, you call it early – I've called it early a few times on sub-continent days: he's on 15 but he's getting a hundred here.

"He's going to milk them at his will, sweeps, all in control. I don't think he was in that control," he observed.