Joe Root defends rotation policy

England skipper Joe Root at Ahmedabad on Saturday

England's crushing defeat to India in the fourth and final Test here on Day Three has raised questions about their rotation policy.

In a bid to keep their players fresh, the likes of Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes were rested at different times during the Tests in Sri Lanka and India.

During the India series, James Anderson was rested for the second Test after a fifer in the first. Anderson and Stuart Broad were only united for the third day-night Test before the latter was rested for the final Test.

Moeen missed out on the first Test to Dom Bess and played the second Test before going home as per the rotation policy plan. Bess was played in the final Test but was visibly low on confidence.

Root, though, defended the rotation policy. "The rotation policy is there to look after the players. It was all done with the best interest of the England team, the three formats across the whole year. There might have been areas where we could have done things slightly differently. Looking back, that's very easy to say," said Root.