News Sports Cricket Hungry to make the next phase of my career the peak: Joe Root

Hungry to make the next phase of my career the peak: Joe Root

England play New Zealand in two Test matches from June 2, follow it up with five Test matches against India in August-September and an equal number of Tests against Australia in the Ashes that starts on December 8.

Joe Root Image Source : GETTYJoe Root

England skipper Joe Root said on Saturday that his best with the bat is yet to come and he wants to make the next phase of his career the peak.

"I certainly feel the best is still to come," Root told the Daily Mail. "I want to have more series like the start of this winter, and produce those big hundreds which help you win the series. I am hungry to make the next phase of my career the peak."

England play New Zealand in two Test matches from June 2, follow it up with five Test matches against India in August-September and an equal number of Tests against Australia in the Ashes that starts on December 8. While the New Zealand and India series will be played at home, the Ashes will be played Down Under.

Root got scores of 228, 186, and 218 in successive Tests in Sri Lanka and India before overly spin-friendly surfaces in the last three matches of the series in India did England's batting in. Root too struggled.

The 30-year-old England's No. 4 batsman, however, said that despite the loss to India, England team is on upward trajectory and making strides as a Test group.

"I feel I have grown a lot in the past year or so, and now have a good handle on things," he added.

"I was obviously disappointed with the way India [Test series] finished, but I do feel we are making big strides as a Test group, and we are coming into an exciting phase of games, which could really see us flourish."