Joe Root: England batter ‘felt different’ long before record-breaking century – Steven Finn column
A sign of how good a person Root is, is how he settled back into the ranks once his great mate Ben Stokes took over the captaincy.
Even though it was clear he wanted to carry on as skipper after the West Indies series of 2022, Root doubled down on the style of play Stokes wanted to use. The message that sent to the dressing room would have been huge and one of the reasons the changeover of captaincy was so seamless.
Root has always had an ability to adapt and evolve. He is never satisfied and never stands still.
For everything which comes naturally to him, like the straight-bat punch off the back foot through backward point, there are other things he has had to work at in order to survive and excel, especially in foreign conditions: rotating the strike from spin off both front and back foot, becoming so selective about how and when he plays his sweeps (not to be confused with reverse scoops). It is not a stretch to say he is renowned as the best batter in the world in sub-continental conditions for visiting teams from outside of Asia.
Root has an insatiable hunger for runs. When he gets an opportunity to go big, he will rarely throw it away.
He had troubles early in his career converting fifties to hundreds. Those experiences have made him realise the opportunity to score centuries doesn’t just grow on trees. You can see the concentration and determination in his eyes when he is not willing to leave any runs out there.
In his first 97 Tests he scored 17 hundreds and 49 fifties. In the 49 Tests up to this series he scored 17 hundreds and 15 fifties. A quite remarkable conversion rate.
The next statistical aim for Root is Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time Test run-scoring record of 15,921. Root is only 33 and at his current rate of scoring it would take him 38 Tests to overhaul The Little Master.
It is not inconceivable this feat could be completed within three years. Root has been bullish about not being close to satisfied at merely surpassing Cook, and that he has many more Test runs in his sights. It is a comforting thought for England fans.
Psychologically, he may consider a stack of runs in a successful away Ashes series win as the prize to top off a magnificent career.
In Australia, Root averages 35.68 with no hundreds. He has played in some horror shows of series Down Under and might be grateful to catch Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins well into their 30s down under next winter.
England’s greatest ever batter has two more peaks to conquer. He isn’t done yet.
