England team ‘looks in good shape ahead of Chennai Test on Feb. 5

GALLE: Skipper Joe Root on Monday said England will take “confidence” from their 2-0 Test sweep in Sri Lanka to challenge world number one India on their own patch, AFP reported.

England beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in a tight second Test in Galle with Dom Sibley and Jos Buttler guiding the team’s chase of 164 in the extended final session on day four.

Spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess played a key part with four wickets each to skittle out Sri Lanka for 126 in their second innings, AFP added.

Root, who led by example with match-winning knocks of 228 and 186 in the first and second matches respectively, said the team looks in good shape ahead of the four-Test series in India that starts in Chennai on Feb. 5.

“We’ve got four very important games against arguably the best team in the world in their own conditions,” Root said.

“We’ll have to play right at the top of our game to win out there but we couldn’t be in a better place to go and challenge them.”

The England team face a period of quarantine upon entry to India ahead of the series, but Root said the measures had not fazed the squad.

“We’re gonna have seven or eight days with no cricket, six days in quarantine and then three very important days of prep ahead of the series,” he said.

“But what we have got is a huge amount of confidence coming out of these two games.”