ENG vs IND: Chris Silverwood Says England-India Series Could Be An Epic

England coach Chris Silverwood believes his side's ongoing contest with India could prove to be one of Test cricket's most memorable series. The teams travel to London for next week's four

The 30-year-old Root has now led England in 55 Tests, four shy of immediate predecessor Alastair Cook's national record.

"I think he is growing and learning all the time," said Silverwood of Root. "That's a great characteristic for a captain to have: to reflect back honestly and make a difference."

"I think there's potential there for him to be one of the great England captains, yes. It's great that Joe has got that record, no-one can take that away from him now. Obviously, we're going to go to Australia and if we win there we can have this conversation again."

Silverwood, himself a former Yorkshire and England paceman, added: "To show my age, I used to play cricket against his (Root's) Dad -- when I was playing for Castleford he was playing Sheffield Collegiate.

"Seeing him become the most successful captain was superb -- something I've been looking forward to for a while."

England may have happened upon a winning side at Headingley more by accident than design, with Haseeb Hameed and Dawid Malan both making fifties after Silverwood - now in charge of selection - dropped both the struggling Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley.

Meanwhile Ollie Robinson, only given an England debut in June, took a Test-best 5-65 on Saturday in an attack missing the injured Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Olly Stone, with star all-rounder Ben Stokes still absent due to mental health issues.

"To be honest I feel lucky that I've got the players there that I can call upon to come in and do the job that they have," said Silverwood. "I think life does throw you a few curveballs every now and again. We have been operating with a wider group of players because obviously Covid has allowed us to do that, which has been great. So I've had eyes on many more players, and when I've asked these guys to step up they have done."