Joe Root has returned to the scene of his Test debut as the best England batsman of his era and arguably the world’s most complete player. What now?
As Joe Root heads back to India, where he made all three of his international debuts either side of Christmas 2012, it’s easy to reflect that not much has changed. The looks were cherubic but the talent, clearly, was seismic. His Test debut went exceedingly well, with 93 runs for once out in the series-sealing draw in Nagpur. Things are still going exceedingly well.
Of all his outstanding achievements since, Root’s greatest trick has been to live cricket like the rest of us. He makes batting – right down to the boring bits like running between the wickets – look fun, and you’d definitely want to be standing next to him in the slips. When he’s out, he huffs back to the pavilion, then sits on the balcony with his chin in his hands like mum’s just told him that no, you’re not having chips for tea. The childlike gratification the game brings has remained in Root in a manner few other pros manage.
And yet overall it’s a very different Joe Root heading back to India. He’s engaged, and no longer shares a bachelor pad with Gary Ballance. There’s a beard, of sorts, and while he’s still willowy and wiry, his arms are bigger (and hairier, too). He’s also England’s captain-in-waiting, top-order pivot, and very possibly the most instantly adaptable, all-round batsman on the planet. As he chats to AOC, he’s considered, speaks slowly. He’s almost statesmanlike.
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You’ve come a long way since that 2012 tour, haven’t you?
It does feel like a long time ago. I was the little boy. Going into that dressing room it felt a bit like a kid winning a competition to spend a month or two with his heroes. I remember rocking up at the airport and being very starstruck meeting all the lads before we flew. So it is a bit different now seeing guys in a similar position to me, when they are coming on a tour like this, trying to get their feet in the door in international cricket. I can really relate to how they are feeling. [Growing more animated] What’s really exciting, actually, is seeing it from a different perspective, and understanding all the feelings you go through in that position. Especially Has [Haseeb Hameed], I see a lot of myself from 2012 in him. He’s small, very young, and hasn’t played a huge amount of cricket at first-class level.
India, then. Root’s eagerness is obvious, not least because of that rest. “The hardest bit is waiting for the games to come,” he says, laughing, tapping his fingers, shuffling his feet as if to hammer home the point. This is the day before the first Test in Bangladesh, and he’s greedily keen.
It’s time, he feels, with the likes of Hameed and Ben Duckett about and with him being one of just two centrally contracted batsmen, for another puff of the chest and rise in responsibility. While “it doesn’t really feel” like he and Virat Kohli are going head to head, he knows how decisive his own output is going to be.
“More than anything it’s taking the responsibility of being a senior batsman in such an exciting batting line-up,” he says, gritty again. “That Pakistan series, a lot of pressure was put on me and Cooky to score heavily, and I think that’s how it should be. If we’re to win in India, our senior players – like me – need to stand up and perform. It’s that simple.”
Later in the day, Root is speaking to the wider media with that Test a few hours closer, and it feels intriguing and instructive to hear him describe this as his “first proper tour of the subcontinent”. He’s been here before, but this is a very different Joe Root.
