SL vs ENG | Fist-bump greetings instead of handshakes in face of coronavirus, says Joe Root

With the coronavirus already killing more than 3,000 and affecting at least 80,000 people worldwide, several sports events have been called off, especially in the last two weeks. As the England squad prepare to depart for the tour of Sri Lanka, Root was quizzed on the epidemic, particularly in the light of many England players being hit by a series of gastroenteritis and flu problems before and during the first Test on their recent tour of South Africa. The Yorkshire batsman said that while necessary precautions are being taken, the team is awaiting confirmation on whether the two-Test tour will go ahead.

"After the illnesses that swept through the squad in South Africa, we are well aware of the importance of keeping contact to a minimum and we've been given some really sound and sensible advice from our medical team to help prevent spreading germs and bacteria. We are not shaking hands with each other, using instead the well-established fist bump, and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the anti-bacterial wipes and gels we've been given in our immunity packs," Root told AFP.

"There is no suggestion that the tour will be affected, but of course it is an evolving situation so we are in regular contact with the authorities and will proceed as advised, but at this stage we fully expect the tour to continue as planned,” he continued.

England will play two practise games against a Sri Lanka Board Presidents XI in Katunayake ahead of the Tests, which will form a part of the ICC World Test Championship. England may have won 3-0 in Sri Lanka two years ago, but their skipper is in no mood to take this time any lightly.

"The conditions will be a bit different with the time of year we are going this time. The three games we played out there last time were all very close with less than 60 runs between the teams in the last two Tests. It was an exceptional performance last time and I think we can take a lot of confidence from that in terms of how to play out there. We respect how good a side they are in their own conditions and we'll find ourselves up against a stiff challenge," Root added.