'Continuation of stuff happened before': Root credits McCullum, Stokes after 3-0 sweep

Birmingham: England captain Joe Root credited former coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes for laying the foundation for the team’s success after England completed a 3-0 Test series sweep against Pakistan at Edgbaston on Saturday.

Root, who returned to the captaincy for the series, said England’s dominant run was a continuation of the work done by McCullum and Stokes, who transformed the team’s approach during their tenure.

“I don’t think we would have been able to play in the manner that we have without the work that Brendon (McCullum) did as coach and Ben (Stokes) as captain. And I think it’s a continuation and a small evolution of all the stuff that happened before this,” Root said after England’s eight-wicket win in Birmingham. “So that has to continue forward, and we’ll continue to keep trying to evolve that and improve on what’s been a really good summer here,” he added.

England chased down 130 with ease in the final innings after Pakistan had put up their strongest batting performance of the series in the second innings, scoring 449.

Root remained unbeaten on 62, and Jordan Cox made 59 as the pair shared an unbroken 128-run partnership to take England over the line after Mohammad Abbas had given Pakistan some hope with early wickets.

Root said England’s ability to deal with pressure and uncertainty throughout the series was particularly pleasing. “We’ve had things go our own way a little bit throughout the series, and we had a little bit of pushback yesterday, which was, in a strange way, quite a good thing for the group,” he said.

“But for us to come through it and be so convincing in the way that we’ve finished the series off, and throughout the whole three games really, has been really pleasing,” he added.

Pakistan’s second-innings fight was led by debutant Razaullah, who smashed 81 off 63 balls with nine sixes, while Shan Masood scored 95, Babar Azam made 76 and Azam Awais contributed 59.

Root admitted England had little information about Razaullah before the match but praised the youngster for making life difficult for the hosts.

“He played some wonderful shots, made it quite difficult to set fields to, and struck the ball nicely. I don’t know how he’s not pulled a side really; he’s swinging that hard. But fair play, he played nicely and made it difficult for us,” Root said.

The England captain also praised stand-in coach Marcus Trescothick for his contribution during the series, saying he had balanced his short-term role with preparing the team for the future.

“I think he’s been awesome. It can’t be an easy thing when you know that it’s not a long-term role, and for him to be able to sort of juggle between trying to look forward and what that might look like, but also be able to have his influence and his way of seeing the game on this group has been fantastic,” Root said.

Root’s comments came after England sealed their first-ever home Test series whitewash over Pakistan, ending the three-match series with a perfect 3-0 record.

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