The Gabba is no longer a fortress and a “stronghold” for hosts Australia after their shocking loss to a weakened Indian side earlier this year, feels England’s skipper before his own team departs Down Under ahead of the Ashes.
England are taking confidence and inspiration out of India’s remarkable triumph where they went toe to toe with a full-strength Australian side despite missing multiple first-choice players and eventually came out on top. That victory gave India their second successive Border-Gavaskar Trophy win in Australia.
Root said a Gabba loss after 32 years and a comeback to Test cricket after an extended ten-month break may be a cause of few nerves and uncertainty within the Aussie camp.
“Look at that India team that won at the Gabba. They were a long way from their first-choice XI but they had no fear. They stood up to Australia and won crucial parts of that Test,”
he told the Guardian.
According to the 30-year-old, India’s victory will give Three Lions a “huge amount of confidence” as they know now that Gabba is no longer a “stronghold” of the kind that it used to be for Australia for a first Ashes Test. Root said Australia may also have a “doubt” seeped into their system about Gabba in Brisbane because of the Indian loss.
England, though, have a poor record at the venue, winning only four and losing 12 of their 21 Tests, with the last of those victories coming in 1986. Since the start of 2000, England have won only four and lost 19 of their 25 Test matches Down Under.
The Aussies may not be as strong as they used to be but have still managed to hammer their arch-rivals by margins of 5-0 and 4-0 in home summers of 2013-14 and 2017-18.
While the insipid record in Australia has led many to question the shortcomings of the English domestic game, Root said one of his biggest lessons from the last two tours as player and captain has been to not be “too desperate”.
He also welcomed the return of premier allrounder Ben Stokes for the Ashes tour after being missing from the action since the end of July to overcome a mental health concern and his finger injury.
