Picture Courtesy : AP
England Test skipper Joe Root has managed to carve a niche for himself in the longer and real format of the game- Tests with aplomb. The 30 year-old is having a dream run in the year 2021. He has six hundreds to his name. And three of them have come against India in the on- going Test series . 109 at Trent Bridge ( First Test) 180 at Lord’s and now 121 at Headingley , Root is proving to be a thrown in the flesh of the Indian bowling attack.
In terrific form , Root in- fact took the Indian attack to the cleaners with his latest ton his 23rd in his career . And seems to have found a liking for them as well look at his stats- His eight hundreds are also the joint-most by any player against India, with Gary Sobers, Viv Richards, Ricky Ponting and Steve Smith.
While the England Test team is bit wobbly with lack of experience and some big names found wanting for form – read Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and the absence of talismanic all- rounder Ben Stokes, Root has taken on the responsibility to anchor the innings. And he is doing that with consistency and class written all over it .
He has taken his time to settle in the middle and has batted beautifully . When the situation needed him to stay there and build he did that with panache. Even when the wickets were falling at the other end he was not rattled in his game plan.
In the cricketing arena today , there is talk of Indian cricket skipper Virat Kohli, Australian Steve Smith and New Zealand Skipper Kane Williamson as the best batsmen in the game at the moment. But given his consistency and and his appetite for runs , England Test skipper Root can now be added into the list as a fourth member. In the on- going series he has outclassed Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli buy some distance so far as runs with the bat is concerned .
He recently went past the 9000 run barrier in Tests overtaking the classy left- handed David Gower’s tally of 8231 runs (117 Tests), Geoff Boycott 8114 runs 108 Tests, Kevin Pietersen 8181 runs ( 104 Tests) . Only former skipper Alastair Cook( 161 Tests) is ahead of him among Englishmen with most runs in Tests i.e 12472. . Root is well on course to become England’s greatest Test batsman in history if this rich vein of form continues.
Making history @root66 ?
Day 2 Highlights: https://t.co/2MEI6cDeYK
??????? #ENGvIND ?? pic.twitter.com/VTcfZXE2XC
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 26, 2021
In the ODI too, Root has already achieved a big prize- member of ICC 2019 World Cup winning team . And what’s more has shown great sportsmanship and modest approach by willing to play under Eoin Morgan (who Captained England to first ever World Cup win 2019 ICC World Cup) . His batting in shorter format too is impressive with 6109 runs in 152 matches so far.
The England Tests skipper unlike his fellow team- mates like Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, ODI and T20 skipper Eoin Morgan, , Moeen Ali , Sam Curran to name a few has not been lured by the glitz of the IPL. He has worked hard on his game . And now is all set to become a legend if not he has become already. And watching his him in the middle taking on the rivals with his cool clam approach has been really enthralling. So sit back and enjoy the root masterclass .
