Joe Root: “I think Stuart’s experience will be vital in Sri Lanka”

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England captain Joe Root has backed pace bowler Stuart Broad to be picked for the three-Test series against Sri Lanka in November.

Broad took 23 wickets in seven Tests on home soil this summer against Pakistan and India, but despite this, there have been reports suggesting that the selectors are leaning towards dropping the 32-year-old.

In the two-Test series against Pakistan, Broad took seven wickets at an average of 20. He followed it up with 16 wickets in the five-Test series against India at an average of 29.68.

While the conditions in Sri Lanka will favour the spinners, Root is optimistic that Broad will be on the plane with the rest of the Test side when they travel to the island nation.

“I think Stuart’s experience will be vital in Sri Lanka,” Root told the Daily Telegraph as quoted by Reuters. “He has had a lot of experience in the subcontinent and had a lot of success with teams out there, so I think it is very important that you utilise that and have experience in those testing conditions to help mould the side around it.”

England’s Test series against Sri Lanka starts on November 6 in Galle.