'I think we're getting far more out of our team and...' - Former skipper Joe Root backs Ben Stokes' leadership approach to continue at Lord's

England skipper Ben Stokes faced a lot of flak for Bazball theory after a close-margin loss against Australia in the first Ashes 2023 Test. Both teams played this match at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Aussies under the captaincy of Pat Cummins, displayed a traditional approach of playing Test cricket which overawed the Bazball approach of England's regime.

Meanwhile, the former England Test skipper and the batting superstar, Joe Root has come up with a statement defending the skipper, Ben Stokes. Root also backed the England side to go ahead with the same approach in the second Test of the Ashes 2023.

Both teams will play this match at the mecca of cricket, Lord’s in London on Wednesday, the 28^th of June.

Coming back to Root’s statement, he appreciated the way England played in the Edgbaston Test from day 1 to the final day of the match. He also expressed a wish that if he would be allowed to go back in time, he would be starting his captaincy, in the same way, Ben Stokes is executing it.

“If I could go back in time, I'd go back and start my captaincy the way Ben has and try to get us to play in a similar manner to how he does it. It's far more exciting, it's far more interesting, and I think we're getting far more out of our team and our individuals,” said Root during an interaction with the journalists.

Here's what Joe Root said further for Ben Stokes and the team

"We're playing better cricket to watch; we're producing better results overall. And if we are going to grow as a team, we can't just look at a game like that, with a couple of moments that went against us, and say: 'We need to go about things differently',” he added later.

Notably, Joe Root himself played a very crucial knock for England in the first innings of the Edgbaston Test. He scored 118 runs before Ben Stokes announced the declaration on the first day of the match.