England batsman Joe Root has insisted that he has no ill feeling towards his teammate Michael Carberry.

Root opened the batting alongside captain Alastair Cook during last summer's Ashes, but he is expected to be replaced by Carberry for the return series, which will get underway on Wednesday evening.

The Yorkshireman is likely to drop down to the number six position, but instead of being disappointed, Root has admitted that Carberry is deserving of his role at the top of the order.

"If you look at Michael Carberry's tour so far, he has played exceptionally well and scored a huge amount of runs and been in very good form," Root told reporters. "It's hard to ignore that. As far as the team is concerned it's very exciting."

Carberry has scored one century and two half-centuries during England's three recent warm-up matches, while Root has also contributed a brace of half-centuries.