(Reuters) – England bowler Stuart Broad mentioned he was not occupied with changing Joe Root as the test captain, whereas including that he felt no “bitterness” in the direction of Root after being dropped from the squad for his or her latest tour of the Caribbean.
Root ended his five-year tenure on Friday, saying the job had taken a heavy toll on him just lately.
The 35-year-old Broad has been touted as a short-term choice to change him, whereas former England captains have backed all-rounder Ben Stokes for the position.
Broad, England’s second-highest wicket-taker in checks behind James Anderson, mentioned he was centered on returning to the England squad after being dropped for the West Indies tour, which they misplaced 1-0.
“I’m conscious that my identify has been touted as a possible successor to Joe as England captain and I assume that’s as a result of I’m an skilled centrally contracted participant who has been across the worldwide sport a very long time,” Broad wrote in his Mail On Sunday column.
“However, it’s not one thing I’ve given any thought to as a result of firstly I’m not at present in possession of a shirt inside the England test crew and my focus could be very a lot on altering that by taking wickets for Nottinghamshire over the subsequent few weeks.”
“I might argue we’re in a reasonably distinctive place as far as choice for the test crew goes proper now in that there are solely two gamers whose names you may write in pen on the scorecard. One of them is Joe Root, the opposite is Ben Stokes.”
Broad mentioned he was annoyed by his latest omission, however that it did not have an effect on his relationship with Root.
“People might query my relationship with Joe given latest historical past however I’ve all the time been good at differentiating between friendship and enterprise,” Broad added.
“From my standpoint, that is skilled sport and it will by no means cease me having fun with a pleasant glass of purple wine or taking part in a spherical of golf with those that got here to such selections,” Broad added.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
