Sydney, Dec 6 (TIWN) Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has suggested England skipper Joe Root to bat at number three during the upcoming Ashes considering his good run of form in Test cricket this year.

Root has been in great form this year ahead of Wednesday’s opening Test in Brisbane, plundering 1455 runs from 23 Test innings in 2021 at an average of 66 while predominantly coming in the fall of the second wicket.  The 30-year-old, who was in charge of the England team that lost 4-0 on Australian shores in 2017-18, has cemented himself at the top of the ICC Test batting rankings.  Chappell, however, believes Root must bat at first drop in the Ashes given England’s underwhelming top order options.  Root averages 38.66 at No.3 in Test cricket, with that figure increasing to 53.37 one position lower.  “The question I would ask Joe is ‘why don’t you bat at three’?” said Chappell on a Wide World of Sports Ashes preview program. “I’ve always believed that you are better off coming in at one for not very many, than two for not very many. No one has really proved that they can really bat at three [for England].  “Joe has got the credentials to bat at three. There’s never going to be a better time for him to bat at No.3, because he’s in terrific form but he just won’t seem to bat at No.3. Yeah, he might get lucky in Australia and [England’s] No.3 could be [Dawid] Malan. If I was Joe, I’m batting three.”  As for Root’s captaincy, Chappell isn’t huge fan and wants him to lean on all-rounder Ben Stokes throughout the summer.  “I wouldn’t worry too much about his captaincy. I don’t think that’s very good,” Chappell said. “He’s got an imagination problem. That is important in Australia. His best chance with captaincy is if he takes quite a bit of advice from Stokes. Stokes has established himself as a very aggressive player.