England batting mainstay Joe Root has opened up on his Test captaincy stint. The star batsman replaced the legendary Alastair Cook as England’s Test captain in 2017 and led the team for five years before stepping down in 2022.
While he did well as England captain, the last few months did not yield the desired results. He eventually stepped down after the 1-0 series loss to West Indies in the Caribbean. Before that, England had suffered a crushing 4-0 loss against Australia in the Ashes series Down Under. Overall, Joe Root led England in 64 matches, winning 27 of those.
Some of the most notable wins during his captaincy were the 4-1 win against India at home in 2018. Two years later, he led England to a 3-1 triumph away to South Africa and also a Test series in Sri Lanka.
Joe Root opens up on Test captaincy:
More than a year after stepping down as England’s Test captain, Joe Root has said that he would love to go back and play fearless and aggressive cricket like how the team has been playing under his successor. Heaping praise on England’s ‘Bazball’ approach, the world number one Test batsman said he would want nothing to change from the current approach.
“If I could go back in time I’d go back and start my captaincy the way Ben has and try to get us to play in a similar manner to how he does it. It’s far more exciting, it’s far more interesting, and I think we’re getting far more out of our team and our individuals,” Root said, as quoted by The Guardian.
“We’re playing better cricket to watch, we’re producing better results overall. And if we are going to grow as a team we can’t just look at a game like that, with a couple of moments that went against us, and say: ‘We need to go about things differently,” he added.
England’s fortunes in Tests have completely changed under Stokes. Since the allrounder replaced Root as the captain, England have won 11 of their last 14 Tests. Stokes would now be looking to guide England to their first Ashes win since 2015. They are currently trailing the five-match series after losing the first Test earlier this week.
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