Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan batsman, has compared Joe Root with Geoffrey Boycott, saying “England are fortunate” to have a captain like him.

Miandad, while praising the England set-up for grooming players well enough to take up the captaincy role, revealed he finds Root’s “attention to detail” similar to that of Boycott.

He also recalled the time Boycott walked over to bat in the nets immediately after getting dismissed in a county match playing for Yorkshire and added that he sees the “same traits” in Root.

“England has regularly produced captains who have been well-groomed to do the job and this is a lesson for other nations as well,” he told iNews. “There is something special about Root and I find his attention to detail similar to that of Sir Geoffrey Boycott.

“During my playing days with Glamorgan we had a game against Yorkshire and Boycott was dismissed early. He immediately walked over to the nets and started batting again for hours because he felt he hadn’t batted long enough and needed more practice. He was so dedicated and I see the same traits in Root. England are fortunate to have a captain like Joe Root.”

You’ll want the sound on for this one.

England Test skipper Joe Root is back in action 👌

pic.twitter.com/ri7Tfwx8Fr

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) June 2, 2020

Comparing the captaincy situation in England with that of Pakistan, and with the jury currently out on Azhar Ali, Miandad said there is plenty for Pakistan to learn from England’s approach.

“The problem is that in Pakistan, captaincy seems to be given to individuals based upon whim and leaders are never groomed as they are in England,” he said. “The result is that a Pakistan captain learns on the job instead of using his knowledge and experience, which is totally incorrect and people who have poor leadership skills are elevated into this role.

“Our domestic system used to produce good captains but the way the new changes are going, this will become much more difficult to achieve.”