Currently, the former captain of the English Test cricket team Joe Root is in incredible form. The 33-year-old right-handed batter, now ranked first among all ICC Test batters, broke former national player Alastair Cook’s record by scoring two hundred runs in a recently completed second match against Sri Lanka at Lord’s Cricket Ground. He is also nearing another milestone that will enable him to become the top run-scorer for England in the history of test matches.
His impressive performance in red ball cricket has made him popular with fans, critics and other players alike. Many ex-cricketers have hailed him as the best cricketer ever while former Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik chose to exclude Root when asked who between him and his compatriot Virat Kohli would be a better choice for the Test batting spot.
According to Karthik, statistical evidence suggests that Root has superior batting skills. However, personal experiences show that Kohli thrives on being under pressure during crucial games or series.
“You might think data would say so but, personally speaking, the one who always does it for me and with whom I have had an opportunity to play alongside owing to our long relationship spanning over 10 years ago is none other than Kohli himself. I know how much he enjoys those major moments, those big series. He has been asked questions before and his response would leave you speechless because of its strength; thus it is not worth asking anymore. Given a chance who would save my life batting? Surely it’s Virat Kohli,” he stated during an episode of AskCB with DK show on Cricbuzz.
Root was born into cricketing royalty; he made his international debut against India during a Test match held in Nagpur on December 13th 2012 which marked England’s first time playing there since 1981/82 summer Ashes series played precisely at this venue. Next Friday he is going to join Ollie Pope’s team playing third test against Sri Lanka at the Oval where he would have an opportunity of making history by becoming the first player ever to reach 5000 runs in the World Test Championship after last match between these two sides made up the ongoing triad series.
The current holder of most runs scored in WTC history has 4948 runs from 57 matches played till date. In order to go past 5000 mark, he needs just 52 more runs.
