England batter Joe Root is enjoying one of the best patches of Test career. Part of modern cricket’s Fab Four, alongside Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith, Root has scored more Test runs than any of his peers. Recently, Root also became England’s most successful batter, when it comes to scoring Test centuries, surpassing Alastair Cook‘s record of 33 last month. In the third and final Test against Sri Lanka earlier this week, Root only managed scores of 12 and 13 across both the innings as England crumbled to an eight-wicket loss.
While analysing the match, former England captain Michael Vaughan expressed his disappointment over England’s batting performance in the third Test. Vaughan, who played 82 Tests, pointed out the over-reliance of England on Root.
“This week really hit home to me how important Joe Root is to this batting lineup. His batting is the key. All these flamboyant players around him get flamboyant fifties. But without the glue at No 4 getting the huge amount of runs he does, they are knackered,” Vaughan wrote in his column for Telegraph.
Vaughan feels Root can’t rescue the team every time, also highlighting his struggles against India pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Australia captain Pat Cummins. Vaughan also mentioned how Root has failed to get a century in Australia, despite his riches elsewhere.
“He can’t do it every week, and he didn’t do it this week. Jasprit Bumrah enjoys bowling at Root, and could severely limit his output next summer. The same goes for Pat Cummins in Australia, where Root has never scored a hundred. England have to have ways of succeeding when Root doesn’t make big runs. On the basis of this game, they don’t,” he added.
Root has played 14 Tests in Australia, but a century has eluded him so far. However, he has scored 9 half-centuried down under, amassing 892 runs at an average of 35.68.
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