London [UK], August 14 : England star batter Joe Root dismissed former Australian batter David Warner's dig at him as "all part of the fun" ahead of the all-important Ashes series Down Under in Australia from November 21 onwards.
The five-match tour to Australia would be crucial for England's ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final chances after a hard-fought 2-2 draw against India. From a pride standpoint as well, England would be gunning to win their first Ashes in Australia since 2011 and their first one since 2015. For this, Root, who is yet to score a century in Australia in Tests, will have to put out performances of a lifetime.
During England's home series against India, Warner took a jibe at Root, a usual part of both teams' strategies ahead of the series, in order to get under each other's skin, even before the match takes place.
"Josh Hazlewood tends to have his number quite a lot. He will have to take the surfboard off his front leg," Warner had said, pointing out Root's poor record against the Aussie pacer, falling to him 10 out of 31 innings at an average of 31.40.
Speaking as quoted by Sky Sports, Root said, "Just that. I have no control over how people perceive the game or discuss it in an interview."
"Nothing new, is it? You know there are going to be storylines and people wanting to hype up a big series. Does not really change anything. It is sort of irrelevant to me. What can I do about it? Just make sure it is not a talking point in six months or 100 days' time."
"When you get out there, you have to got to try and impact the game and help your team get off to a good start. Business as usual as far as I am concerned. I guess it is all part of the fun. We will see what happens out there [with Warner at Lord's during The Hundred, where they are playing for Trent Rockets and London Spirit respectively]. It is not really in my nature to get too verbal," he concluded.
Despite not scoring a century in Australia, Root has a decent record there, with 892 runs in 14 Tests and 27 innings at an average of over 35, with nine half-centuries and a best score of 89.
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