Joe Root Responds to ‘No Fight’ Jibe Ahead of Edgbaston Test

Joe Root has spent the summer smiling his way through run gluts and series wins, but the England captain’s expression hardened the moment one phrase was put to him: that Pakistan had shown “no fight”.

On the eve of the third Test at Edgbaston, with the series already banked at 2-0 after crushing victories at Lord’s and Headingley, Root was having none of it.

“Absolutely we have found Pakistan a challenge,” he said, bristling at the suggestion that England had steamrollered a soft touch. “I think that's a bit disrespectful to both Pakistan as a team and to us as a team.”

England’s dominance has been brutal on the scorecard. An innings-and-103-run win at Headingley. A 194-run victory at Lord’s. Pakistan, battered by an unrelenting pace attack of Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson, have not reached 200 in any of their four innings.

Those numbers tempt easy conclusions. Root is determined to resist them.

“It’s very easy to say one team is excellent and one team is poor. Normally it’s somewhere in the middle,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve allowed them to get into games because of how well we’ve played and how quickly we’ve read the situations and the surfaces that we’ve had.”

That has been the story of the series so far: England seizing the initiative early, then squeezing relentlessly. New-ball spells that cut through the top order. Fields set with intent, not caution. Batting that has pushed the game forward and left Pakistan permanently scrambling from behind.

But while England have surged, Pakistan have been tearing themselves apart.

After the Lord’s defeat, the Pakistan Cricket Board sent seven players home, ripped up the coaching structure and removed Test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed. White-ball coach Mike Hesson has been parachuted in to lead the side for the finale, and seven new players have joined the squad, five of them uncapped at Test level.

The upheaval has fed a wider narrative: that this is one of Pakistan’s weakest Test sides in decades.

Root doesn’t buy that either.

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

Strip away the noise and the facts are stark. England have been sharper, clearer in their plans, and ruthless in execution. Pakistan have been outplayed. That is not the same as being spineless, Root insists, and he knows how quickly a wounded side can snarl.

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

Edgbaston has a habit of feeding on tension. A full house, a series already decided, and a visiting team with nothing left to lose is a volatile mix. Root has seen enough of Pakistan cricket to understand what that can produce.

“There’s a very talented group of players in that dressing room and you’ve got to be ready for it,” he warned. “So we’ll make sure that we are.”

England arrive in Birmingham with the luxury of a sealed series but the edge of a side that knows reputations are shaped by how you finish, not just how you start. Pakistan arrive with fresh faces, a new voice in the dressing room and the sting of being written off.

One team wants a clean sweep. The other wants a response. Edgbaston will decide whose narrative survives the week.