Newsupdate: On Joe Root’s 23rd birthday, speculation was rife that he would one day captain England. Three years later, however, in India during the 2016-17 season, and following Alastair Cook’s retirement from the job after that hard-fought win, which saw the tourists return home 3-1 down in tests played, he then stepped into the position himself. The board also anticipated potential issues due to Root’s sardonic sense of humour and his tendency to provoke negative reactions when confronted with team discipline issues. While his workload hasn’t significantly increased thus far, Joe Root has narrowly avoided two serious injuries.
When Root stepped up to the captaincy of the England Test team, he had represented his country in 53 Tests. This was a record for his contemporaries, and he averaged over 50 runs against them. The precision of his batting and its unwavering thoroughness as a spectacle on match days made Root a standout player in the modern game despite his slight build and keen intelligence.
Initially seen as an opener, Root’s powerful all-round array of shots and ability to handle all positions from number three through four are natural gifts. This influence also permeated the limited-overs international events, a combination that England’s post-2015 World Cup bravado perfectly complemented.
Root’s disciplined progression through the ranks provided concrete proof of his adaptability and his ability to do whatever he said he would. Root’s self-possession on his Test debut at Nagpur in 2012 was a remarkable feat. With this 73 off 229 balls, he surpassed himself in both restraint and technique on a slow game, testing ground pitch. Among the landmarks as he grew were his first Test century in 2013 at Headingley, when he also became an Ashes centurion at Lord’s.
Root never wavered, however, and rather than restraining himself or going under the covers when nothing seemed to go according to plan, he found new ways to win. After scoring 200 against Sri Lanka last year and making subsequent runs against India at home, Root has solidified his position as one of the world’s top batsmen in cricket.
Last year he led Yorkshire to a championship title and further cemented his claims as captain, though losing humorously earned him the nickname “Craptain,” which he vowed never to live down.
For Root, 2015 was a breakthrough year. With 1385 runs in Test cricket, inclement weather did not bring down his first England century—a majestic 134 against New Zealand at Lord’s. Also in 2015, he scored centuries for both Lancashire and England during a match against Australia in Cardiff (and helped win the game by taking four wickets).
At Nottingham Trent Bridge, Root achieved another century while facing Pakistan; despite only one catch from Midland’s Michael Lumb, he still managed to score an innings of 106! Root is no Marc Bolan, of course.
Off the field he is anything but boring, always quick-witted and smiling. However, at times, Root’s inability to convert his 70s or 80s scores into significant hundreds can feel like a shortcoming, even though it’s understandable given his youth. However, the leading player in cricket history was always going to score three centuries in a row. Pure momentum. When firmly rooted, big batsman Joe Root speaks loudly, scoring 254 not out off 254 balls against Pakistan, leading England to win that Test match.
Firmly ensconced among cricket’s “Big Four” with Kohli, Williamson, and Smith, England captain Joe Root’s prolific scoring spanned all three formats of the game. His records included back-to-back calendar year runs for England in 2015 and 2016, as well as surmounting both Marcus Trescothick’s ODI century record and Martin Crowe’s total for all internationals in 2018.
Key to the virility of cricket in 2019 is his captaincy of England. There have been highs and lows in Joe Root’s journey as captain, though. With losses during the Ashes series in Australia and a reduction of his centuries to three on a low-quality surface at Manchester, he even witnessed a slump that lasted more than two years.
But Root led England to triumph over India in 2018, capturing the series 4-1. His vision for rebuilding England’s Test team remains unwavering, underscoring his superiority in all English cricket.
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