Joe Root is yet to give up on a Twenty20 recall for England, but concedes the chances of adding to his 32 caps remain slim. It is approaching six years since he won the most recent of those and although there is an argument that his tournament nous and ability against spin would be useful assets in next year’s World Cup back here in India, Root accepts that a power game in which India’s rising star Abhishek Sharma struck 135 off just 54 balls on Sunday night has potentially left him behind.

‘I haven't given up, but I also understand that you look at where the T20 game is going and how England have set up in the T20 team for a long time, it's probably a slightly different player and role that we'll need in that position,’ he said. ‘Something that I've always looked at in my career is: how can I evolve? How can I keep getting better? How can I be the best version of the player that I am within my own remit? That's what I'll continue to try to do when I get the chance to play in that format.’.

Before arriving here to witness the England record 150-run humbling in Mumbai that condemned Jos Buttler’s team to a 4-1 series defeat, the 34-year-old spent an eight-game stint with Paarl Royals at the SA20, leaving the competition as its second top run scorer and experimenting effectively with his bowling. So successful were the modifications made - sending down his off-spinners from round the wicket via a round arm action and lengthened delivery stride that reduced the height of release - that he reeled off four overs in a row at the death in one match.

Joe Root has not given up hope that he could play T20 cricket for England again. Jos Buttler's side suffered a 4-1 series defeat in India as they made a disappointing start to 2025. England were undone by spin, and there have been calls for Root to get back into the side due to his ability against the turning ball. Of practising it, he said: ‘It's not very comfortable a lot of the time, but I was just trying to make it difficult for batters to line me up, getting out of overs as quickly as possible and building pressure for the guys at the other end.

'I was just trying to exploit the surface that we were playing on out in Paarl. It didn't bounce. It was a low, slow wicket, and you might find there's some similar sort of surfaces that we play on in the next month or so.’. With Ben Stokes’ injury absence forcing England to look to alternative candidates from the top six to provide fill-in overs in a trio of one-day internationals here and the Champions Trophy that follows, Root will have a secondary responsibility against a powerful home batting line-up.