Joe Root on tackling Virat Kohli: We have to play how we want to

ENG vs IND, 3rd Test Headlingley: England skipper Joe Root doesn’t want his players to get distracted by verbal duels.

Team India's 151-run victory in the second Test at Lord's has pumped in a lot of adrenaline in the five-match series against England. Besides the cricketing action, there was intense heat in the middle with the players engaging in verbal duels, including Indian captain Virat Kohli.

Ahead of the third Test at Headingley, England skipper Joe Root clarified that his side is desperate to bounce back and that there won't be any change in his team's approach. "Virat's team will play how they play. We have to be the best version of ourselves. We have to play the game how we want to play it," he told reporters on Monday.

Root does not have a specific plan to keep Kohli quiet. "We cannot get too distracted or drawn into anything. We have to be genuine, how we are as individuals and collectively, be as good as we can be," he added.

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But the English cricketers have been indulging in conversations on how to stop their opponent. "You try to find the percentage of ways how you can deal with different situations in a Test match. We had good learning after the last game. We could have gone about things in the third innings differently. We can manage certain areas differently in the passages of play."

Root wants to remember the Lord's Test as an advertisement for the "greatest format of the sport" and not the unpleasant talks caught by the stump mic.

'Fabulous Test match'

However, he agreed that when it comes to temper, the conditions don't matter. "When you are out in the middle, it can get a little heated and it doesn’t matter whether you are home or away. Sometimes you have to manage a passage of play well. We have to make sure we go about our cricket how we want to in the best possible way.

"One thing I will say, that it was a brilliant Test match ringing throughout. As an England player and captain, we did not have the result on our side, but what a fabulous Test match with the ups and downs, ebbs and flows, and the to and fro of five-day cricket."

Except for Mark Wood, who has a jarred shoulder, all players are fit and available for selection. "Hopefully we can get through tomorrow well and we can make selection purely on conditions," said Root.