Joe Root urges England to go out and prove a point

England have done the work, and now it's about “going out and proving a point” in the second and final Test against Pakistan, captain Joe Root said.

The hosts go into the second Test at Headingley, Leeds, starting Thursday 1 June, 0-1 behind in the series, and keen to finish on an even footing.

It has been a quick turnaround from the nine-wicket loss at Lord’s, and Root rallied his players to take “pride in the badge” and come out strong.

“I look at this group and how we performed at Lord's and it's nowhere near what we've done in the past and what we're capable of moving forward,” he said.

“If, after last week, they prove we have strong characters who can come out and perform well here, that will tell us a lot about this team. That's what I want from the guys. To stand up and be counted and show how important it is to play for England.”

While England are ranked No.1 on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings, they are in danger of slipping to seventh on the Test Rankings if they lose 2-0. While they won against South Africa and the Windies at home last summer, they have suffered reversals away against Australia and New Zealand since.

Root admitted that the team was “low on confidence after a difficult winter” and they had been below par, but said they were working hard to give themselves the best chance of success.

“There is no place for poor mes in international sport," he said. “Sometimes you’re a little low on confidence after a difficult winter – you’ve got to get over that. Yes, we have underperformed, but look at the players we've got.

“There is plenty of evidence across the board that we have the players. It's just doing it consistently well over a long period of time. I have full confidence in that group. We have everything we need to be a really good team."