Kevin Pietersen passionately defends Joe Root after legends tell England captain to resign

Kevin Pietersen has launched a passionate defence of Joe Root after a number of England legends urged him to resign as Test captain.

Former captains Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton all believe Root should step aside after his side were beaten in the West Indies.

After drawing the first two Tests of the series, England suffered a 10-wicket loss in the decider in Grenada to slip to a fourth successive series defeat.

Root’s side have now failed to win any of their last nine Tests – losing the Ashes 4-0 to Australia over the winter – while they have won just one of their previous 17 red-ball matches.

But Pietersen believes it is unfair to criticise Root’s captaincy and says fingers should instead be pointed at the other players and the ‘set-up’ as a whole.

‘Who else is going to captain them? You are only as good as your players,’ the former England batter told talkSPORT.

‘As a coach you are only good as your players and as a captain you are only as good as your players.

‘My question is who is going to take over and who is going to do a better job with the players they’ve got?

‘Forget Joe Root, it’s about the players. Who is going to do a better job with the calibre of players playing Test cricket for England?

‘Don’t point fingers at Joe Root. Understand the set-up, the set-up stinks.’

Root has led England in a record 64 Test matches since his appointment in 2017, with no captain winning – or losing – as many matches as the Yorkshireman.

Former England head coach David Lloyd says Root should lose the captaincy and be allowed to focus on his own game, while naming James Anderson and Stuart Broad as possible candidates to take over the side.

Neither Anderson or Broad – England’s two leading wicket-takers –