Rotation Policy Could Hurt England In 'Immense, Box Office' India Series

Former captain David Gower has warned England risk scuppering their chances of winning an "immense, box-office" Test series in India by sticking rigidly to a player-rotation policy. Wicketkeeper-batsm

Root on Friday will join Gower as one of 15 cricketers to have played 100 Tests for England. The 30-year-old Yorkshireman has already scored 8,249 Test runs.

"If you look at Joe's figures, he is the most successful of all of us who have reached that 100-Test mark," said Gower.

"Compared to (Geoffrey) Boycott, (Kevin) Pietersen, (Alastair) Cook, he is ahead of the game," added the 63-year-old left-hander, who finished his 117-match career with 8,231 runs at an average of more than 44.

Two of Root's 19 Test hundreds, commanding innings of 228 and 186, were made last month in Sri Lanka and Gower said that, without them, "England might well have come second".