Joe Root at 100: Six of his best innings to date

When Joe Root walks out for the coin toss on Friday morning in Chennai ahead of the first Test versus India, a sense of pride will be felt by all those who have followed him throughout his career, from his fledgling days at Sheffield Collegiate CC as a 15-year-old to where he is now.

After 99 Test matches to date, batting in 181 innings and scoring 19 centuries, it has been a highlight-filled pathway so far. Here is a look at six of Root’s innings that have helped shape his career.

73 runs (229 balls, 289 minutes, 4 fours) India vs England, Nagpur, 2012

Stepping out as a baby-faced 21-year-old into the scorching Indian sun, the 655^th player to represent England strode and scored an innings of pure delight. His natural talent was clear to see and proved the selectors to be categorically correct in placing their faith in the youngster from Yorkshire after only two professional seasons. Root showed a temperament and patience of a player beyond his years scoring the sixth-longest debut innings in Test history, facing 229 balls and batting for just shy of five hours on a wicket that was desperately slow.

Embed from Getty Images

104 runs (167 balls, 237 minutes, 9 fours) England vs New Zealand, Headingley, 2013

Growing up through the Yorkshire age groups, it was Root’s dream to play for his country at his home ground. And boy did he do that. On his first ever appearance wearing the three Lions batting at No. 5, he dismantled a New Zealand attack that included Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Trent Boult who have gone on to form one of the most potent attacks in world cricket.

He joined a select few who were able to say they scored their maiden English Test century under the age of 23. Those he joined were Len Hutton, Dennis Compton, Bill Edrich, Peter May, Colin Cowdrey, Ian Botham, David Gower, Mike Atherton, and Alastair Cook. Eight years ago, England believed they had unearthed the future of their batting line-up. They certainly did.

Embed from Getty Images

180 runs (338 balls, 466 minutes, 18 fours, 2 sixes) England vs Australia, Lord’s, 2013

Having been promoted to open the batting alongside Alastair Cook, replacing Nick Compton, it only took four innings to turn his initial promising start into the makings of the complete package he is today. Having scored 30, five and six in the first three innings of the series, Root batted for almost eight hours in the pinnacle that is the Ashes, at Lord’s against a fired-up Australia attack.

Having pummelled Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle, who were arguably at the peak of their powers, all around north London, it showed not only his talent but also his tenacity and aggression shown towards the back end of his tenure, holding steadfast amongst the chaos ensuing at the other end of the wicket during a collapse that saw England fall from 22-0 to 30-3.

254 (406 balls, 614 minutes, 27 fours) England vs Pakistan, Old Trafford, 2016

England had been in a slump after not performing in recent matches with pressure mounting from every angle. The home side were trailing to Pakistan 1-0 in a pivotal Test series and things were not as rosy as in previous years. Once Alex Hales fell early on for ten, Root arrived batting at No. 3 and then scored 254.

The runs flowed, and flowed, and flowed. Root cover-drove and pulled his way to his career best score and this still stands today. Root, who has batted everywhere in the order between opening and No. 7, had seemed to have finally settled on his space in the team at No. 3, but Root himself had different ideas.

226 runs (441 balls, 636 minutes, 22 fours, 1 six) New Zealand, Hamilton, 2019

14 months ago, pressure was growing on Root’s form, not to the extent of seeing him being dropped, but enough to force question marks over what direction the team was heading under the Yorkshireman’s leadership, and is it being led by the right man.

Having admitted to feeling the pressure that had seen his year-average fall to a career-low of 27.40 entering the match, he soon put all that behind him, casting away the doubters and cemented his place as the captain for the future series’ to come. Batting for a staggering ten-and-a-half hours, he formed a 177-run partnership with Rory Burns before a 193-run pairing alongside Ollie Pope, stamping his authority and brutally dispatching the Kiwi attack.

Photo: Reuters

186 runs (309 balls, 495 minutes, 18 fours) Sri Lanka vs England, Galle, 2021

Fresh off the back of 228 runs in the first Test, Root continued to pile on the runs and scored all his runs outside of the conventional V. His superior ability to nullify the threat of the Sri Lankan spinners compared to all other batsmen highlighted just how dominant and how much control he was able to gain.

Sweeping, reverse-sweeping and even reverse-pulling his way passed 8,000 runs, and in the process of that innings Root overtook David Gower, Kevin Pietersen and Geoffrey Boycott. Boycott, a Yorkshire legend and the former world record holder for most test runs, shows the extend to which Root’s career has progressed. He is now only 214 runs behind Alec Stewart in third place.

Having become the highest-scoring Yorkshiremen and England’s fourth-highest Test scorer, his origins of playing with his father and brother all those years back in Abbeydale Park, to making his debut for Yorkshire seconds at the same ground to now. Considering the fact, he has only just turned 30, there could still be many more appearances and memorable moments to follow.

Century number 19 for @root66!

Scorecard: https://t.co/amgffKzDdu #SLvENG pic.twitter.com/NzEsVplk96

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 24, 2021