With the Ashes 2025-26 series still a couple of months away, pre-series trash talk has already begun. Former Australian cricketer David Warner had already targeted England's veteran batsman Joe Root, though the latter has been in scintillating form of late. Warner's words did not go down well with Root's former teammate Moeen Ali, who stood up for him and also ridiculed Warner. Warner ignited the off-field psychological games by emphasizing what he perceives to be a glaring vulnerability in Root's game, especially in the Australian conditions. This is despite Root just moving up to second on the all-time list of Test run-scorers, with only the great India batter Sachin Tendulkar ranking higher than him. Here is what Warner had told the BBC a few days back: “The big anchor there is Root, who is yet to score a hundred in Australia. I think he will have nightmares before he gets over there about Josh Hazlewood. A bit like me and Broady… [Hazlewood] tends to have his number quite a lot. He will have to take the surfboard off his front leg, that’s where we always targeted him,” The English batsman retaliated with blunt criticism, calling Warner a clown of sorts and throwing his words aside as an unsuccessful bid to get under Root's skin. He also contended that Root is far too experienced to be unduly upset by such remarks. Also Read | 4 IPL Teams That Should Go After Jamie Smith in IPL 2026 Mini Auction “He’s just being Warner. He’s a bit of a clown to be honest with you. He’s trying to, obviously, get into Rooty’s head, which he won’t. He’s not up for the whole banter thing. It’s just Warner, isn’t it?,” he said. The England cricket star explained that sledging is effective only against some players, and Root's level of experience ensures that it will not affect him. He referred to India's recent failed efforts to unsettle Root during their just-finished series, where the batter went on to score 537 runs at an incredible rate, as evidence that this tactic simply does not work on him. “But Rooty… the guy has scored so many runs now, he’s been through the whole thing and it won’t effect him. India tried it and it just didn’t work, clearly didn’t work, because he scored loads of runs. But yeah, there’s some players you can do that to and others that you can’t,” Moeen concluded.