“It had become a very unhealthy relationship”: Joe Root reveals why he quit as England Test captain post smashing match-winning century vs New Zealand at Lord’s

Joe Root reveals why he quit as England Test captain post smashing his 26th Test ton, at the Lord’s versus New Zealand.

Continuing his purple patch of form in the Test format, especially since 2021, former England skipper Joe Root (115) smashed his 26th Test Century, to guide his team to a 5-wicket victory against New Zealand on ‘Day 4’ of the first Test match at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground.

The century moment also added quite some feathers in Root’s cap, as he went on to become only the 14th batter to complete 10,000 runs in the Test format, and also the joint-youngest to arrive at the landmark moment.

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The win has meant that the England side under the new captain-coach duo of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have begun their journey on the best possible note, with the team winning their first Test after nine matches.

Root, who made way for Stokes as the leader of the side, opened up post his match-winning knock, on the ‘unhealthy relationship’ he had with his captaincy in the past few months, and how it took a toll on his mental health.

Joe Root reveals why he quit as England Test captain

Post bagging his ‘Player of the Match’ award for a sublime knock under pressure in the fourth innings, Joe Root, for the first time opened up on his decision to relinquish the England Test captaincy post.

The 31-year-old revealed that the relationship between him and his captaincy had become ‘unhealthy’, as it had taken a severe toll on his mental health.

“It had become a very unhealthy relationship to be honest, the captaincy and me. It started to really take a bad toll on my own personal health. I couldn’t leave it at the ground anymore, it was coming home. It wasn’t fair on my family, on people close to me and it wasn’t fair on myself either,” remarked Root.

“I had thrown everything at it and I was determined to help turn this team around but I realised over that time at home that it would have to be in a different way,” he further added.

It is worth of a mention that Root had managed to secure just a solitary win in his last 17 Tests as England captain, which included a 0-4 Ashes drubbing earlier this year.

Moreover, he also lost the Test series against the Windies 0-1 post Ashes, after almost the entire England coaching staff was stripped off from their respective posts due to intense criticism from the English fans and experts.