Eleven years ago, the late Martin Crowe, the cerebral Kiwi batting great, had prophesied in one of his columns that India’s Virat Kohli, England’s Joe Root, Australia’s Steve Smith and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson would take turns to be ranked the No. 1 Test batter across the next decade. The pioneer was right. All of them went on to hit sublime peaks in between navigating distressing troughs. But Root, the youngest of the four, has, since the Pandemic, distanced himself from his illustrious peers and surged far ahead.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!In 66 Tests post Covid, Root has amassed 5944 runs with 22 hundreds at an average of 55.55. A batting reset during the forced break allowed Root the time and space to recalibrate his game and spot areas for improvement, especially against spin and short-pitched bowling. Obsessed about where his hands, head and feet were, he quickly realised that run making and eliminating risk was what batting was about. Root noted that even if he was in the wrong position, he could benefit if good balls were kept out. A quick call to former England skipper Nasser Hussain, who arranged for footage of his dismissals from the broadcasters to see if there was a pattern, helped him.
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Will Joe Root finally score a century in Australia this November?
The Covid break did different things to Root’s peers. Williamson saw a rise in his numbers. In 25 Tests, he logged 2800 runs, averaging 66.66 with 12 hundreds between 2020 and 2025. Smith endured a struggle and saw a 10 percentile drop in his average. In 45 Tests, across 3250 runs, he slammed 10 hundreds, averaging 45.13. It was only Kohli who suffered a catastrophic collapse in his game post 2020. From averaging 62.15 between Jan 1, 2015 to Jan 1, 2020, a period in which he played 52 Tests, scored 4848 runs and reeled off 18 hundreds, including seven double tons — all as captain — Kohli could log just 1990 runs in the 37 Tests till the end of his career. He added only three more tons more to his existing 27 and averaged just 32.09.
Root has maximised the 27-32 age period, a time zone where batters are meant to be at their peak, by shunning the lure of T20 franchise cricket. Probably not being in England’s T20 set-up has also allowed him more time to recharge his batteries and maintain fitness. Note, Root has missed only two of the 158 Tests that he has played in. He was dropped once and was away on paternity leave for the other.When he captained England with middling results, seeming like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, Root saw his batting average fall to 46.44. In the ‘Bazball’ era under Stokes and McCullum though, Root has rediscovered old peaks and old joy. With 3654 runs in 41 Tests at an average of 58 and 14 tons, he smiles more and snarls less. Unless you are named Prasidh Krishna!
When you watch Root from a distance, it is easy to miss him. He does not have Kohli’s swagger or his booming cover drive. He is not fidgety and restless like Smith. He does not have Williamson’s pathological calm.What Root has, though, is a method of scoring that he fully trusts. The clip off his hips to midwicket from off-stump, the steer across point that occasionally causes him grief on bouncy tracks, the efficient working of the ball into gaps that helps him rotate strike against spin. The odd reverse sweep to put the bowler off. These are moments that may not make it into highlights packages. But they compound into runs and have helped Root move up rapidly on the table of ‘G.O.A.T.S’.
These traits have also allowed him to drop anchor and carve out a fourth innings average of 113 in victorious Tests with two centuries. Can he correct the one gaping hole in his resume of not having a three-figure score Down Under, come Nov?Another veteran in the autumn of his career — someone a young Root watched as he summoned Pragyan Ojha during practice at the Wankhede in Nov 2012 — had two tons in Australia while still in his teens. Root knows that any comparisons with the great Sachin Tendulkar, who he now trails by only 2,378 runs in the race for the highest run-getter in Tests, will be justified if and when he aces the Australia Test.
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