England have won their first red-ball series since December 2024, which came incidentally under their new captain Joe Root. A comprehensive series win with one game to spare is in every way a welcome sight, especially after the sort of form England have had lately. Root the captain is obviously elated with how his side has fared, Root the batter, however, has yet to make his usual mark.
In two Tests so far, he hasn’t got past a combined total of 100 runs, averaging 31 in three innings. His average this summer, in fact, hasn’t been up to his fabulous standards either. But the England captain isn’t worried. He backs himself to find a way out of whatever is causing him to lag.
“I’d have loved to have scored more runs,” Root said in his post-match press conference. “It’s been difficult, but when you’re winning games it’s important to see things for what they are.
“The reason I’ve got the runs I have, and had the amount of time playing Test cricket, is because I’ve always been quite good at understanding, being level and eventually problem-solving. I’ll continue to keep working hard.”
The LBW pattern follows Root
There is also an annoying pattern that has been tailing Root lately. In nine innings this summer, he has been trapped lbw seven times. In all three innings against Pakistan, his return to the pavilion came after the bowlers thumped his pads.
One of Mohammad Abbas’ four wickets in the first innings was Joe Root, who walked away without troubling the umpire for another look after Abbas struck him on the knee roll. Root only faced Abbas for seven balls across three overs. And this figure could have been fewer had it not been for Ben Duckett’s dismissal warning Root, who stood outside the crease to rule out LBW. It was on his second ball at the crease that Abbas had hit him on the pad, but ball tracking showed the impact outside off, saving Root.
This brought Mohammad Rizwan closer to the stumps, forced the England captain to stay inside the crease, and Mohammad Abbas’ in-comer landed on Root’s pads, so the umpire raised his finger.
14,000 runs keep Root unruffled
Root, again, wasn’t really fazed by this trend. For some other batter, this mightn’t have been as unruffling, but as Root reminds, he has 14,000 Test runs, and you don’t get that many runs by not knowing your way around things.
“I might have been out lbw a few times, but four of those have been umpire’s call. If they go the other way, it might not be as much of a talking point.
“Again, I think you have to look at it from a realistic point of view. Clearly there’s a trend there and it’s happened a couple of times, but to what extent is it something to be really concerned about?
“If I was getting out like that and other ways, that’s even more concerning. Of course I’m aware of it, but I’ve got 14,000 runs for a reason. I can play and I’ve managed to get through difficult phases throughout my career. I don’t see this being any different.”
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