: England white-ball head coach Matthew Mott has revealed Test captain Ben Stokes and in-form batsmen Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow are excited about the return of the upcoming three-match ODI series against India from Tuesday. Since Stokes took over as Root Test captain, England have won all four of their Tests so far, playing a new form of attacking cricket in the game’s longest format.
Chasing 277, 299 and 296 followed a 3-0 sweep of New Zealand in the rescheduled fifth round at Edgbaston followed by a record 378-run chase against India in a 2-2 draw between Bairstow and Root. After the break from the T20 series, this trio will now play against India in ODI.
Mott said: “It would be even better to return to the ODI series after a win. We want to see him with the energy he showed in the Test series. He is very excited to be back here.”
After losing the T20I series to India, England managed to escape Suryakumar Yadav’s 117-run counter-attack and won the final match at Trent Bridge by 17 runs. But Mott was more pleased with the way England’s bowlers stopped India’s 216-run chase late in the match.
He said: “I was very happy with the way our bowlers showed courage. This is what we are talking about, playing under pressure and I think we can score runs very well. We were successful on defence.”
