A solid batting technique coupled with immense concentration perhaps defined Joe Root’s batting. The current captain of England’s Test team, Joe Root is hailed as one of the most prolific run-scorers in England cricket in the current age.
Joe Root, in fact, considered to be amongst the top-four batsmen of world cricket of the current era, alongside Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith.
Root boasts of an outstanding record in international cricket. He has played close to 150 one-day internationals and 94 Tests so far in his international career.
Early Years and Domestic Cricket Career:
Joe Root comes from a rich cricketing background. His grandfather captained Rotherham CC in the Yorkshire League for several seasons. His brother, Billy too plays cricket for Glamorgan.
He attended King Elcbert School, Sheffield and at 15, on a cricket sports scholarship, Workshop as a weekly boarder.
He made his debut with Yorkshire Second Team against Derbyshire on 18th July 2007. He amassed 57 runs in that game and put up a 133-run alliance with Adam Lyth. He also earned the Player of the Tournament as Yorkshire’s Academy won the ProARCH trophy in Abu Dhabi.
Considerable success in the second team level meant he was given the opportunity to play for Yorkshire’s first team in the final pro match of the season at headingly.
Describing the match as the dream come true, Joe Root scored 63 runs in that game. However, the team went onto lose that game.
Joe Root made headlines after earning Man of the Series for his performance against Bangladesh’s under-19 while playing for England-19 side. His performance helped him signing a three year contract with Yorkshire.
Joe Root was then selected for England’s side to represent in the Under-19 World Cup, held in New Zealand. Joe Root played a match-winning unbeaten knock of 70 runs against Hong Kong, helping England reach quarter –finals. They, though later got eliminated after losing to Hong Kong.
International Cricket Career:
Joe Root made his international cricket debut against England in the fourth test of 2012-13 Test series. In his first innings against England, he scored a valuable 73 runs off 229 balls, including 4 fours. In the second innings, he scored an unbeaten 20 runs off 56 balls.
A good show in India meant Root was retained for the Test tour to New Zealand in 2013 and was also included in the ODI and T20 squad.
In his first two ODIs of the series, he made significant contributions with 56 and 79 in first and second innings respectively. Root was praised across the cricket world as he became the first cricketer to have started his ODI career with six consecutive scores of over 30.
Not long after New Zealand came to England to play a Test series where the England Test captain scored his maiden Test century. At his home ground of Headingly, Root scored a well compiled knock off 104 runs off 167 balls. He finished the series as England’s highest run-getter with 243 runs to his name. His performance helped his side take the series 2-1.
2013 ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY:
Ahead of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, Joe Root was named as one of the players to watch out for England. In the game against Sri Lanka, he scored 68 runs off 55 ball followed by 38 runs off 40 balls against New Zealand. England won that game and reached the semi-finals. In the semi-final game against South Africa, Root scored 48 runs off 71 balls to help England register a 7-wicket victory, thereby reaching the finals. He was also named as 12th man in the ‘Team of the Tournament’ by the ICC
2015 World Cup:
England saw a major debacle in the 2015 World Cup as they saw they going back home only after the group stage matches. Root scored 5 runs against Australia and 46 against New Zealand. He scored just one run in the game against Scotland. However, He wreaked havoc in the game against Sri Lanka where he stood out for the side, scoring 121 runs against Sri Lanka. With that, he also became the youngest cricketer to have scored a century in a World Cup.
2015 Ashes Test Series:
Ahead of the 2015 Ashes series, Joe Root was made the vice-captain of the team. On the first day of the first Test, Joe Root scored a record-breaking century, compiling 134 runs off 166 balls. In the second innings, he scored 60 runs. England went on to win that test by 169 runs.
Joe Root took the wickets of Steve Smith and Peter Nevill in the second innings, while in the third test he made 63 runs in the first innings. In the second innings, he scored 38 runs off 63 balls to help England chase down a target of 121 to win the Test.
He scored his eighth Test century in the fourth Test and with that also became the youngest England cricketer to score three Ashes Test centuries.
2019 World Cup:
Joe Root was included as one of the integral cogs in England side for 2019 Cricket World Cup. He started the tournament on a great note, scoring two centuries against Pakistan and West Indies. It was followed by three half-centuries. He played his 250th one-day international against Sri Lanka in the World Cup.
Joe Root finished the tournament as the fifth highest run-scorer in the tournament, scoring 556 runs in 11 innings. His vital contribution in the perennial tournament helped England clinch their maiden fifty-over World Cup.
JOE ROOT: RECORDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
- Ahead of the 2015 Ashes series, Joe Root was made the vice-captain of the England cricket team.
- He scored a century in the first Test match of the series.
- Joe Root made his debut in Test Cricket against India in 2012. He made his ODI debut against the same side in 2013.
- Joe Root earned the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 2014.
- He was named in the ICC Test Team of the year in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
- He was included in the ICC ODI team of the year in 2015 and 2018.
- In 2015, Joe Root was named England’s Test Cricketer of the year. He was also named as England’s limited over’s cricketer of the year.
JOE ROOT NET WORTH:
Joe Root income comprises of his salary, bonuses, prize money and endorsements. His net worth is estimated to be at 3$ at present.
