‘Disrespectful’: England captain Joe Root defends Pakistan against ‘lack of fight’ criticism

England Test captain Joe Root has thrown his weight behind the underfire Pakistani team amid ‘lack of fight’ criticism. Root said it's ‘disrespectful’ to accuse the touring side of not showing stomach for a battle so far in this Test series, having trailed by 2-0, with one match to go. Pakistan will head into the third and final Test at Edgbaston on Wednesday having faced severe punishment for the Lord’s Test defeat, with the PCB dropping seven first-squad players and releasing the head coach (Sarfaraz Ahmed) and bowling coach (Umar Gul) midway through the series.

The PCB called up seven players for the final Test, including five uncapped cricketers, and white-ball coaches (Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke) for the final Test.

This team, however, has also been labelled as the worst Pakistan side to tour England.

Meanwhile, Root addressed all the drama during the pre-match presser in Edgbaston, saying, "Absolutely we have found (Pakistan) a challenge."

"I think that's a bit disrespectful to both Pakistan as a team and to us as a team," added Root, in his second spell as full-time England skipper following the shock international retirement of Ben Stokes.

"I don't think we've allowed them to get into games because of how well we've played as well and how quickly we've read the situations and the surfaces that we've had.

"I think it's very easy to say one team is excellent and one team is poor. Normally it's somewhere in the middle."

"If one team has been outstanding, then the other team can't have been poor and vice-versa. I think it's important to live in that middle area somewhere and understand that that's not how it is.

"Regardless of what's happened over the last two games, this week it's a completely different proposition for us.

"There's a very talented group of players in that dressing room, and you've got to be ready for it, so we'll make sure that we are,” Root said.

Pakistan lost the series opener in Leeds by an innings and 103 runs, and suffered another embarrassing loss in the second Test at Lord’s by 194 runs. Amid the leadership drama, with two separate captains leading the Test team in the first two matches, Pakistan failed to cross 200 in any of the four innings they played.