Stunning turnaround sees Root ascend to the throne

Despite the setback at the Oval, England enjoyed a successful home season winning the rubbers against both West Indies and Sri Lanka. England's success has run parallel with the ascent of their premier batter Joe Root, who during the course of the summer scaled peaks. He displaced Alastair Cook from the top of the charts for most Test centuries by an Englishman and is within touching distance from his tally of runs. He also became the leading run getter and century maker at the 'home of cricket' Lord's during the second Test against Sri Lanka. Root's rise in the last 3.5 years has been astounding and it would be hard to argue the fact that he is currently the best batter in the world in the longest format.

The fall and rise of Root

Root was bracketed alongside his peers Steven Smith, Virat Kohli, and Kane Williamson as the modern day 'Fab Four' who dominated the batting charts in the 2010s. While his peers peaked at one point, Root was left behind in comparison though he steadfastly remained the best among the rest. But since 2021, the narrative has turned on its head with Root hitting his zenith as a batter. Root's aggregate of 4579 runs is 2000+ runs adrift of the next best batter in this period while his 17 hundreds is ten centuries more than any other player barring Kane Williamson who is a distant second in the list with nine hundreds. (The numbers are partially driven by the fact England play more Test cricket than any other nation. Among non-English batters, the most batted by anyone in this phase in Marnus Labuschagne's 63 innings, way short of Root's 90) It's not just the volume of runs that puts Root at a pedestal, it's the manner in which he got those runs. He averages 55.84 in this period which is the second highest for any batter behind Williamson's 64.34 (1500+ runs), but the latter has batted just over a third of Root's tally (33 innings to Root's 90).

Most runs in Tests since 2021

The big change in Root's game has been in terms of converting the starts to big scores. Up until the end of 2020, he crossed fifty 66 times across 97 Tests but only about a quarter of those were converted to three figures (17) - second worst by a batter in the period. In 49 Tests since, he has doubled the tally of tons to 34 at a rate of converting every second 50+ score to a 100 - the best in this period. In fact, his tally of 17 hundreds since 2021 is the same as the combined aggregate of his Fab Four companions Williamson (9), Smith (6), and Kohli (2).

Root pre and post 2021

Root's rise has to do with two major factors: his significantly improved home record and embellished second innings stats.

Soaring at home

Between 2013 and 2020, 18 batters scored 2000+ runs at home and Root's home average of 50.56 was only the ninth best in this group headed by Kohli (72.45), Smith (71.00), Warner (70.62), and Williamson (67.29). England was a tough place to bat, compared to most other countries, especially in the period between 2018 to 2021, and this is reflected notably in the stats. Of the nine English batters with 1000+ runs at home between 2013 and 2020, Cook was the only other batter to average 40+ (43.89), underlining Root was country miles ahead of the rest of the pack even in the not so friendly conditions.

Root turned a corner in his career as the calendar flipped to 2021, kicking off the year with big daddy hundreds in the two Tests in Galle followed by a double century in his landmark 100th Test at Chepauk. He carried on his form to the home summer where the rest of his teammates struggled, leading the run charts in the home rubber against India with 737 runs - 333 runs more than the next.

Things took a brighter turn after Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum were appointed at the helm of affairs in the summer of 2022 relieving Root from captaincy duties. The tracks in England turned out to be among the most conducive for batters, aligning with their game modelled on attacking batsmanship. Root marched on his golden run from 2021 to the 'Bazall' era and his record at home soared. In 25 Tests in England across the last four seasons, Root averages 65.14 - in the territory of his peers when they were at their peak. The impact Root has had in the last 3.5 years is also reflected in his strike - up by 28% and he is scoring 15 runs more per 100 balls, and this hasn't come detrimental to his stay at wicket which has increased by ten balls per innings on average.

Root at home

Second innings stats

Root enhanced numbers at home says one half of the story of his resurgence while the other half can be rationalized by his polished second innings stats. Since the start of 2021, Root is the only batter in the world to aggregate 1000+ runs in second innings (1855) at 50.13 - a significant jump from his 43 in the period till 2020. The big shift has happened in home Tests: in 25 home Tests in this period Root's second innings average of 75.43 dwarfs his first innings average of 58.87.

Dissecting it further, Root's fourth innings numbers have had a meteoric rise during the 'Bazball' era. Up until May 2022, Root averaged 32 across 37 fourth innings knocks with a highest of 87. He set the tone for the 'Bazball' era of fourth innings chases hitting an unbeaten 115 to guide England home in pursuit of 277 at Lord's. This was followed by an unbeaten 142 in the series decider against India in Edgbaston later in the summer where England made their highest successful fourth innings chase of 378. In ten outings in fourth innings during the 'Bazball' era, Root averages a Bradman-esque 94.16 at a strike rate of 68.

Second innings stats pre & post 2021

Liberation from the burden of captaincy

Whether letting go of captaincy duties and embracing the new 'Bazball' style has unleashed the beast in Root the batter is anyone's guess, but the numbers do back the theory that it has. Though Root had a productive run as a batter in the last 15 months of his captaincy tenure averaging 54.37 in 20 Tests since 2021, England endured a barren run as a team. In his last 17 Tests in charge, only one ended in an England win while they tasted defeat in as many as 11. However, since giving up captaincy, Root has averaged 57.11 in 29 Tests and is scoring at 68.08 per 100 balls with nine three figure scores - the best phase of his career.

Root's career progression

Root is also one of the select few players who enjoyed a good run as a batter in his post captaincy period, in his case the best phase of his career.

Batting record after being relieved of full time captaincy

Minimum 20 Tests as captain & 15+ Tests after resigning from full time captaincy.

For a large part of his career, Root was chasing his peers to the throne of the best batter in the world. It took a while, but Root finally caught up with the rest of the pack and he is now firmly in the driver's seat as they edge closer to the sunset of their respective careers. Root will have sights set on Tendulkar's tally of 15921 runs and should he scale that peak, it will certainly be the crowning glory of his career.