Resilient Root weathers the storm

Amidst all the talk of Joe Root's conversion rate over the past three years, there has been an implicit criticism of the English captain. That he could do the easy part but lacked the grit or strength of character to go on and really nail his opponents. It hasn't often been said outright but it has been there, lurking beneath the surface of the debate, the implication that Root has been weak, mentally or physically. Perhaps both.

It is not often that Root is actually spoken about as a tough cricketer at all. Ben Stokes is tough and dogged, yes. James Anderson and Stuart Broad have been doing the fast-bowling hard yards for years. Dom Sibley, even, is known for his strength of mind and resoluteness. But when was the last time Root was described as tough, gritty or resilient? He just isn't seen like that, at least not outside the squad. And yet, there is nothing weak about Joe Root. He is one of the toughest cricketers England have.

That might surprise some who just see the boyish looks, the recent failure to capitalise on half-centuries or the uncertain first two years of his captaincy. Batting appears so easy for Root that it is easy to be lulled into thinking he doesn't have to think about it, that it just miraculously happens. He took time to grow into leadership which might have seemed to some that he was diffident or unsure. Maybe he was. But that is different to being weak. Those who know Root speak of a steeliness in him that isn't necessarily apparent to those outside the team environs.

Paul Farbrace, England's assistant coach from 2014 until the start of 2019, will mention the many runs that Root scored over the years when not feeling great or fighting his technique. He often wasn't playing perfectly, yet he still eeked out a score. Farbrace uses the final day of the 2017/18 Ashes at the SCG as an example of Root's hardiness, when he was so ill with a sickness bug he ended up in hospital on a drip yet returned to the ground to bat on day four. Even then, Root still didn't give his wicket away and managed to pick up a half-century.

Root has been fighting his technique for a while. He has been unable to resolve issues with his trigger movements against the fast-bowlers. He thought he had it fixed at the start of last summer but then had a difficult season against West Indies and Pakistan, failing to register a hundred. So he went back to the nets and spent most of the past six months working on it again. Given that spin has dominated these Tests in India, the true test of whether he has fixed the issues will come against India's excellent bowling attack but he has certainly looked in good order against Sri Lanka.

Those technical struggles have contributed to the conversion rate problem. Since the start of 2018 to the end of last summer, Root scored 14 half-centuries and just four three-figure scores. For a player of his quality, it was a poor return. Root even admitted it had got into his head and affected his game. It didn't help that he was trying to get to grips with the captaincy, having had barely any leadership experience before, and having to shoulder the burden of a top order than continually resembled a Jenga tower in a hurricane. He has had a lot to deal with.

Given this context, there is a different perspective to the conversion rate issue. Perhaps another way to look at Root's recent returns is that his mental strength actually allowed him to score as many runs as he did. Rather than a failure to convert starts into hundreds, it was actually a success to get past 50 at all, showing just how resolute he is. For instance, Root was still able to average 42 last year despite not being anywhere near his best. As Jos Buttler said after play, most mere mortals would be happy with that. Perhaps this last year, in its own way, has actually been a sort of triumph?

Even so, Root is not simply one of the pack. He is one of the best. And even he has admitted that he needed to do better. Before this series, he said he wanted to lead from the front, that he had worked on his game, ironed out a few kinks and felt good. He talked the talk. That is easy to do, of course. The hard thing is to then back it up. And how Root has done that so far in this series.

He has batted for more than 16 hours across the two Tests in addition to marshalling his troops in the field for 322.3 overs. It is little wonder he suffered with cramp on the third afternoon, forcing him to devour energy gels like they were smarties. Later in the final session, he looked as if he had a back spasm. Yet despite the tiredness he was clearly facing, Root soldiered on. He did not give his innings away when it would have been easy to suffer a lapse of concentration. He only gave his first chance on 172 and was finally removed, run out in the last over of the day, in unlucky fashion.

Innings like the two Root has played do not come easily. He works hard on his fitness to be able to play them. Throughout his career, he has had to manage a long-term back issue and yet he has not missed a Test match since he was recalled to the side after the 2013/14 Ashes series. Given his captaincy commitments, he often has to do his work in the gym late in the afternoon when the rest of the squad are already round the pool having completed their sessions. He is leading perhaps the fittest England squad ever and although Root may not be the most athletic, he can certainly hold his own.

His fitness enables him to show the sort of concentration he has exhibited during this series. Even more impressive has been the pressure Root has done it under. His double century in the opening Test, with England fielding an inexperienced batting line-up, at least in Asian conditions, was the difference between the two teams. His 186 in this game is 54.9% of England's runs in this match so far. Root has singlehandedly kept his team in this contest.

His fantastic skill set against spin has been on show once again. He reads length expertly and has the quick feet required to move forward and back. He has so many scoring options, with the sweep, reverse sweep and, remarkably, the switch hit to the fore in this innings, contributing 12 of his 18 boundaries. When he defends, his hands are as soft and delicate as an archaeologist's handling a precious relic. You'll notice that the ball often comes to a standstill right next to his front foot when Root plays a forward defence.

His ability against spin is not some miracle of birth, though. Root is one of the hardest working players England have, matched only by Ben Stokes. Root's work ethic has been evident since his teenage days at Yorkshire when he would phone up Kevin Sharp, the academy coach, and ask to have a net before the team's training session started proper. Even now, he hits the most balls of any England player. Root has even been known to annoy some of his teammates by staying in the nets so long that the team bus back to the hotel is delayed.

He is specific in his training too with an attention to detail that puts many others to shame. Even as a 15-year-old, Root would often tell Sharp what he wanted to work on in each session. He trains with a purpose, using sessions to work exclusively on hitting against the spin or with the spin, to defend or attack every delivery. The ability to work harder and smarter than others is hard. It is not easy to do. It takes focus and determination. To do that consistently for nearly a decade as Root has is even more impressive.

So, while batting may look as if it comes easily to Root when he is in the sort of form he is here, his game is underpinned by a world-class work ethic, fitness and concentration of the highest order and a deep-seated resilience that allows him to continually contribute even when he is well below his best. Clearly, he has not scored the hundreds he should have over the past three years. But that is not because he is weak. Far from it. Joe Root is as tough as they come.