‘Disrespectful’ to say Pakistan showed no fight: Joe Root defends Babar Azam’s side ahead of third Test

England captain Joe Root has defended Pakistan ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston, saying it was “disrespectful” to suggest the visitors showed “no fight” despite trailing 2-0 in the three-match series.England had already sealed the series after an innings and 103-run victory at Headingley and a 194-run victory at Lord’s. Pakistan have yet to score 200 in any of their four innings against England’s fast attack of Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson.Pakistan head into the final Test after a major shake-up in the squad and coaching staff. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sent home seven players after Lord’s defeat, sacked Test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and brought in white-ball coach Mike Hesson to lead the side for the series finale. Board also added seven players to the squad, including five uncapped Test cricketers.The team has been labeled one of Pakistan’s weakest Test sides in a decade, but Root rejected the suggestion that England faced opposition without a fight.Asked during his pre-match press conference ahead of the third Test about what it was like to play against a team offering “no fight”, Root pushed back emphatically.“We absolutely found (Pakistan) a challenge,” Root said.“I think it’s a bit disrespectful to Pakistan as a team and to us as a team. I don’t think we allowed them to get into games because of how well we played and how quickly we read the situations and the surfaces we had,” the England captain said.“I think it’s very easy to say one team is excellent and one team is bad. Normally it’s somewhere in the middle.”The England captain said the performances should not be seen in extremes and credited his own team for taking control of the first two Tests.“If one team was excellent, then the other team couldn’t be poor and vice versa. I think it’s important to live somewhere in that middle ground and understand that’s not the case,” added Root.“Regardless of what happened over the last two games, it’s a completely different proposition for us this week.”Root also warned his players not to take Pakistan lightly despite the visitors’ troubles in the series.“There’s a very talented group of players in that dressing room and you’ve got to be ready for that, so we’ll take care of that.”