Former captain Mike Atherton believes Joe Root is taking advantage of the “incredible work” that the England Test captain put in his batting last year during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The 30-year-old Root has been in sensational form in Test cricket this year. On Saturday, he scored his second consecutive century in the series, remaining unbeaten on 180 as England took a 27-run lead in the second Test against India at Lord’s.
“I think it is a reward for some of the incredible work he has done in the lockdown. It came at a time when he was 29 and he already had a great career.” sky game.
“But it gave him a chance to rest, where he said, ‘I have the second half of my career coming up and I can go from a very good player to one of the greatest players of all time. she added.
With the century, Root crossed the 9,000-run mark in the format. He started the year by scoring a double century in the overseas series against Sri Lanka and India.
“He asked the analyst to send every dismissal for the last five years, looked at it in great detail and tried to figure out where he could go from there. He is reaping the fruits of it.”
The former England captain-turned-cricket writer said that the changes Root made to his techniques resulted in a “golden run of form”.
“He’s made a little technical adjustment now, with the back foot going straight behind. He’s less sensitive to lbw when the ball is straight.
“For three years, he was not at his best at home against seam and pace bowling, but now he is in a golden form that started when England went to Sri Lanka in early 2021.
“He showed all his great skill on the dust bowl in Asia and now he’s got his best game in more seam-friendly conditions at home.”
After scoring 364 in India’s first essay, Root took England to a position of weakness with a total of 391 in the first innings.
“The lovely thing is that he doesn’t seem at all burdened with the weight of captaincy and expectation at the moment. Think about the context of this innings – that hat-trick came on the ball when India got two for two.”
“He’s the captain who got India to bat and they put up 127 for the first wicket and scored 364 – not a big score, but definitely more than you want when you have a side. Things like this affect you. “
Atherton said Root has been able to brilliantly divide his two duties as a captain and a batsman.
“He is Joe Root the batsman, not the Joe Root captain who is burdened with expectation and pressure and he is playing with great freedom.”
get all IPL news and cricket score Here
.