Joe Root captaincy record: England’s most successful Test captain has decided to step down from the leadership role.
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Joe Root will no longer lead England in Test cricket following him stepping down from the leadership role in a surprising decision. Results not going in Root’s favour in the last year or so did invite severe criticism regarding his style of captaincy but the 31-year old player had appeared determined of bailing out England out of this shambolic phase in cricket’s ancestral format.
“I am immensely proud to have captained my country and will look back on the past five years with enormous pride. It has been an honour to have done the job and to have been a custodian of what is the pinnacle of English cricket,” Root said in an official statement issued by ECB (England Cricket Board).
“I have loved leading my country, but recently it’s hit home how much of a toll it has taken on me and the impact it has had on me away from the game.”
Joe Root captaincy record
It was during the home summer of 2017 when Root had led England for the first time in the first Test against South Africa at Lord’s. A half-a-decade leadership role in Test cricket witnessed Root leading in 64 matches (most by an English captain). It is worth mentioning that both Root’s 27 wins and 26 losses as captain are the highest for an England captain.
Overall, Root is at the seventh position on the list of most Tests played by a cricketer as a captain. Having led England for a total of 39 Tests in one stretch, Root is at the joint-eighth position in this respect.
As a batter in these 64 Tests, Root had scored 5,295 (most for England) runs at an average of 46.44. Since the start of 2021, in particular, Root was outstanding with the bat but his plethora of runs weren’t enough to prevent England from Test defeats both at home and away.
Other than the sheer number of runs, Root’s 14 centuries, 26 half-centuries and 87 catches as captain are also the highest for an England captain.
Next England cricket captain odds
Readers must note that the ECB haven’t announced Root’s replacement for now. Designated vice-captain Ben Stokes, who had led England once in Root’s absence a couple of years ago, appears to be a front-runner for the job.
England, whose below par state of affairs in Test cricket has resulted in them having a handful of sure-starters in their Playing XI, face a daunting challenge of finding a new captain.
With many of them not even guaranteed of a Test spot, England could look at a left-field option of handing the reigns to someone like Stuart Broad especially if they don’t want to burden Stokes. Having led England in 30 white-ball matches between 2011-2014, a modern-day red-ball specialist in Broad can play a similar role of what Anil Kumble played for India between 2007-2008.
