Owing to the horrendous performance of the England Test team in recent times, it is not a shock that Joe Root has decided to step down from the captaincy. After a string of poor Test outcomes, culminating in a 4-0 Ashes humiliation and subsequent 1-0 series defeat in the West Indies, pressure has mounted on the 31-year-old. Root as a captain holds the record for the most wins for England. His 27 victories in 64 games put him ahead of Sir Alistair Cook and Sir Andrew Strauss, two legends of the game. England has won just one Test since winning the first three in 2021, losing 11 and drawing five of their past 17.
In the statement given, Joe said, “After returning from the Caribbean tour and having time to reflect, I have decided to step down as England Men’s Test captain. It has been the most challenging decision I have had to make in my career but having discussed this with my family and those closest to me; I know the timing is right. I am immensely proud to have captained my country and will look back on the past five years with enormous pride. It has been an honour to have done the job and to have been a custodian of what is the pinnacle of English cricket.”
Joe Root has been an exceptional role model
Accepting Joe’s decision, ECB’s Chief Executive Officer, Tom Harrison said, “Joe has been an exceptional role model during his tenure, balancing the demands of Test captaincy whilst continuing to shine brilliantly through his own personal performances. He has led by example, and that has resulted in more Test wins than any other England captain, alongside several famous series home and away victories. Joe’s leadership qualities were exemplified by how he led the team through some of the most difficult and uncertain times we have seen, playing during the pandemic all over the world, which speaks volumes for him as a leader and as a person.”
Root took over as Sir Alastair Cook’s successor in 2017. Ever since then he has guided the side to several notable series victories. It includes a 4-1 home series victory over India in 2018 and a 3-1 away victory against South Africa in 2020. He became the first England Men’s Captain to win a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2001 in 2018. Joe repeated the same victory in 2021 with a 2-0 triumph. He is already England’s second-highest Test run-scorer behind Alastair Cook, with 14 hundred to his credit as Captain. His 5,295 runs as captain are the most by any England captain. His number puts him fifth in the list of all-time greats including Graeme Smith, Alan Border, Ricky Ponting, and Virat Kohli.
