Joe Root

The new regime and not being captain anymore has brought him liberation and, perhaps, self-discovery.

After Edgbaston, he half-joked he was caught between the grounding of the old Yorkshire way of orthodox batting and the entreaties of his captain to be a rock star. The absence has steadily dimmed the cachet and robbed him of a global, all-format sheen (while, by contrast, Steven Smith and Kane Williamson faced off in the last T20 World Cup final). If nothing else, this summer has been a righting of that. Sometimes the gaps are bigger, and you know where the ball is going to be because of generally how sides bowl for long periods of time. Of course, they scored a hundred and of course, they did it the way they did it, the way they always do it. If Root were to sleepwalk his way through the 90s, this is the route he would take as he knows it so well. All that said, it has been a fascinating summer in the career of Joe Root. He feels like a kid again and because he has never knowingly not looked like a kid, the youthfulness is assumed to be in his batting. At Trent Bridge, he played shots that are unusual for him in Tests and urged a rewriting of the coaching manual. He referred to conversations in the dressing room about recognising moments when the pressure had to be absorbed, before ruthlessly turning it around - a bit of nuance not often talked about over these Tests. In the seventh over of Jadeja's spell, he finally paddle-swept him twice, each for four; in his next, he swept him conventionally for another. That might not appear a very lopsided proportion but imagine the strong temptation to let Bairstow take over and really barrel his way into that target? They are lining up actions, making sense of the surface, getting their body aligned, making sure the feet are light, the arms loose and a central equilibrium holding it together. The clips he works through midwicket - also a Joe Root trademark.

Joe Root has revealed that Ben Stokes has asked England to play like "rockstars" and the pair shared a celebration inspired by the new Elvis Presley film ...

I’ve brought his mentality and his ethos into this Test environment and everyone has responded so well to it.” “You’re playing for England. You’re doing something that you did as a kid as a hobby and now you’re playing for your country. And in the week that Eoin Morgan retired as an England captain, it is clear that his legacy is having far reaching consequences.

Bazballism has understandably won admirers but it was Root that set the stage for the beguiling drama to unfold. At the centre of New England is still the ...

The reverse-scooped six off Shardul Thakur was merely a decoration, or a mere reminder that we are living in the age of Joe Root. And at the centre of New England is still the old hand. The set-up is especially useful against a short-of-length peddler like Bumrah, in that he gets more time to play them on the back-foot and guide them over slips or third man. This smoothness of the shot hides the difficulty of execution, more so against as devious and quick a bowler as Bumrah. The set-up helps. A heap of wickets and England could be nursing the scars of another caving in. He just wanted to show the world the celestial world of his batsmanship, the elusive chords he strums with the bat. If a picture indeed painted a thousand words, Root driving one the bended knee, spoke thousand more times about his batting than the absurd numbers he had racked up this series. In touch, in the divinest touch of his career, he flows as smoothly and serenely as a river. It seemed predestined that Root would salvage the series for England. For he was so desperate to draw the series after the meltdown in Oval, whereupon his captaincy was ripped apart. That he’s the ringmaster of Birmingham. And fittingly, he struck the winning runs, with a reverse sweep, swelling his series tally to 737 at an average of 105, and a strike rate that syncs with Brendon McCullum’s attacking ideals. That the Indian seam-maestro came not even remotely close to troubling him, let alone dismissing him captures the story of Root’s incredible mastery. In the end Bazballism won admirers, impressed critics and muted the still critiquing diatribe, but it was Root that set the stage for the beguiling drama to unfold.

Joe Root inspired England to their highest ever fourth-innings run-chase, then admitted Ben Stokes had encouraged his players to become 'rock stars' as they ...

‘They’ve come here on the back of three wins against New Zealand, and we’ve had a long gap between Tests, but no excuses. Let’s go and get people to fall in love with Test cricket again. You’re playing for England. You’re doing something you did as a kid, and now you’re playing for your country. ‘Before the game, Ben said: “We’re going to chase.” When you’ve done it once, that does make it easier. It’s how it should be, and hopefully the way we’re playing can inspire youngsters to take up the game and enjoy it.’ ‘I don’t think I’ll ever be able to feel or look like a rock star but for 10 seconds I might have done today.

Joe Root said England were 'still heading into the unknown' after he led them into uncharted waters by serenely steering them to the highest successful ...

We’ve been very good over the last few years in terms of being able to take wickets and win Test matches, but we haven’t been able to do it over the last few months. It’s very rare that you have five really good days in a row – but when you get your chance you’ve got to really make it count.” “I think once you’ve done it once, you know you can do it and you prove to yourself to you can. They did that better than us and they deserved to win. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to feel or look like a rock star, but for 10 seconds I might have done today.” Ben Stokes said: “There was a bit of me that wanted India to get to 450 to see what we would do.” And Root’s matter-of-fact assessment was: “We knew whatever they set us we’re going to chase it down.”