England’s prolific batter Joe Root has opened up on returning to the national side after leading the team, calling that phase “difficult and weird”
“Ben (Stokes) did so much for me as my vice-captain, now it’s my turn to give a bit back to him,” he said to Sky Sports. “It was difficult and weird coming back into the team after being leader. I didn’t want to get in Ben’s way or step on his toes but I wanted him to know I was there to support him,” he added.
Of his career tally of 13,006 runs, 3,117 of those have come in the three years and 36 Tests since he was replaced as captain by Ben Stokes. Root has averaged 56.67 during this phase.
“I knew a big part of that was scoring runs. I wanted to make sure I could affect games with the bat and clearly if I was following his lead as a former captain it sends a strong message to anyone coming into the team or not as established as myself.”
He called this phase one of the most fun in his career, crediting the efforts of skipper Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum. “It has become the most fun time of my career. Playing the way we play, the environment that has been created. The job Ben and [head coach] Brendon [McCullum] have done has been fabulous and so much fun has come with it,” said Root.
Speaking on bazball and the hype around it, Root said, “It might not always get reported how it actually is – I don’t think Bazball is the right way to describe it. It has clearly been a big change and is different to how a lot of teams play but there is a lot more method to it than is probably perceived.”
Root sits fifth in the list of highest run-getters in Test cricket. He is also the highest run-getter among active cricketers and is potentially close to breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most runs in Test cricket. Tendulkar has 15,921 runs in 200 Tests.