Joe Root has been included in the England team for the opening ODI against Ireland.

The seasoned English batter Joe Root has been included in England’s team for the forthcoming one-day international against Ireland on September 20 at Headingley. Joe Root voluntarily chose to be included in the team as he looks to improve his performance in 50-over matches in advance of the upcoming World Cup next month.

There were no members of England’s preliminary 15-man World Cup squad in the initial 13-man lineup set to face Ireland. But following a strong recent run, Harry Brook has taken Jason Roy’s place in England’s World Cup squad.

With scores of 6, 0, and 4 in the first three games of England’s recent 3-1 series victory over New Zealand, Root had a downturn in form. He struggled to get into a groove in the format as evidenced by his 29-run innings from 40 balls in the fourth ODI at Lord’s. He has only had the chance to bat 16 times in ODIs since the 2019 World Cup, which is impressive.

England’s national selector Luke Wright revealed that Joe Root asked to play in the upcoming ODI matchup against Ireland.

He merely requested a little more time. It’s wonderful that someone still has the drive to want to achieve more and more. The fact that he still wants to tweak and do more when something doesn’t feel quite right demonstrates where he is with his game and what makes him such a top-tier talent. Wright was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying, “He just wanted another shot, as much as we probably believed he deserved a break as well.

Wright underlined the necessity to balance physical responsibilities with mental well-being when explaining the reasoning behind Brook’s break following a series against New Zealand, particularly in light of Brook’s demanding summer schedule.

We would be foolish to deny him a respite. Always consider how much more batting someone needs in comparison to how much mental rest they require. We likely intended to give him a vacation before the World Cup in this instance so he could rest for the Ireland series, he continued.

In regards to Roy, he has been given the opportunity to play despite just being cut from the World Cup squad owing to back spasms sustained during the New Zealand series.

Jason Roy still has the opportunity to participate, since we’ve offered him that choice, according to Wright. We’ve left that up to Jason Roy because he wasn’t anticipated to be in that Ireland squad and the news that he wouldn’t be attending the World Cup came as a bit of a hammer blow. That one will be addressed during the coming days.