David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd: I expect England will recall Joe Root for the T20 World Cup

Root’s T20I record is good, with him averaging 35.72 at a strike-rate of 126.30 in the format. However, his opportunities in recent years have been limited both by the demands placed on him in ODI and Test cricket, and by England’s plethora of white-ball batting options.

In the 2016 World T20, Root played one of England’s finest T20I knocks, smashing 83 off 44 balls against South Africa to script a chase of 230, and he might also have been named Player of the Final in that same tournament were it not for a last-over onslaught from Carlos Brathwaite. Root made a half-century and took two wickets in his only over to help England into a dominant position, which only slipped right at the last.

While Root has played relatively little T20 cricket recently, he showed in the T20 Blast for Yorkshire in 2020 that he remains a force in the format, scoring 278 runs at an average of 69.50 – the highest in the competition – with a strike-rate of 144.79 and four half-centuries.

Dawid Malan had seemingly nailed down the No.3 spot that Root had occupied previously, attaining the highest ICC T20I batting rating of anyone in history, but his poor form in India, the host nation for this year’s T20 World Cup, has seen scrutiny fall on his position.

Lloyd, writing for the Daily Mail, said that he believes England will recall Root for the global tournament.

“It’s been fantastic to watch this England side in the Twenty20 internationals but I reckon there’s a missing link who would enhance their chances of winning this year’s World Cup,” he said. “Joe Root hasn’t played T20 for England for almost two years but I would bring him back for the tournament in India in October and I believe Eoin Morgan will do that.”

“Root is England’s best player of spin — he’s inventive, particularly on the sweep, and his bowling would be invaluable in this side, as it was at the last T20 World Cup in India in 2016.”

A major consideration will be whether Root can manage the dual demands of playing in the T20 World Cup and preparing for next winter’s Ashes. England have pursued a novel rest and rotation policy this winter, which has seen all their all-format players, apart from Joe Root and Chris Woakes, miss part of their six-Test run against Sri Lanka and India, and Chris Silverwood has suggested, with the fixture congestion exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, that a similar strategy could be employed later in the year.

“Joe has a massive workload and it’s only right he’s being rested now,” said Lloyd. “But I think England are boxing clever by keeping him up their sleeve for now and will bring him back later this year when conditions will suit him just as much as their power hitters.

“My one concern is the end of the World Cup overlapping with the build-up to the Ashes in November, and if Root is involved in India his Test team will have to begin preparations without him. I know from when I was coach that can be a problem.

“But, if logistics can be sorted out, one of England’s big hitters may be looking over their shoulder at World Cup time — and that means Jason Roy, Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow must keep getting runs between now and October to be safe.”

England assistant coach Paul Collingwood also hinted that recalling Root, who he termed a “world-class batsman”, was a possibility, but explained that his workload would be a key consideration.

“Well I guess it’s a possibility because he’s a world-class batsman,” Collingwood said. “No matter what format he plays he brings something to the side, so of course it would be a possibility. But there’s a balance between winning on the park and also looking down the line for the future. Test cricket is huge, winning the Ashes in Australia would be a huge thing for us, and Joe’s captaincy along with his runs that he brings to the side, it’s vital that we have him as fresh as he possibly can be come those Ashes. He’s going to have a lot of cricket this year, so I guess we’re just going to have to play it by ear.”