For Us To Start Like This Under Ben Stokes' Leadership, It's Exciting Times - Joe Root

England batter Joe Root was delighted to kick off the new era in English cricket under the captaincy of Ben Stokes and the management of head coach, Brendon McCullum.

The duo was appointed after a disastrous Ashes series followed by a series loss away to West Indies. Their first assignment was the Lord’s Test against New Zealand which England managed to seal with a 5-wicket win.

Root was the connoisseur of the victory scoring his 26th career Test hundred in the fourth innings of the run chase. During the knock, he joined Alastair Cook as the only batters to breach the 10,000-run mark for England.

“It feels good for us to win a Test match. It feels like such a long time. Great to start strongly under Ben and Brendon and a great chance for us to kick on.”

“A lot of people will talk about my personal performances, run-wise, but it’s never enjoyable when you’re losing. For us to start like this under Ben’s leadership, it’s a really exciting time,” Root said to SKY.

“Captaincy was starting to have an unhealthy effect on the rest of my life” – Joe Root

Under Root’s leadership, the English team was performing terribly. The batting order was a disaster and apart from Root, there were no significant contributors apart from the occasional spark. He had to give up the captaincy in the end as it was taking its toll.

“Of course, it is [hard] but I’d thrown everything at it and it was starting to have an unhealthy effect on the rest of my life. I couldn’t leave it in the car or at the ground. It was taking a toll on me and my family,” he also mentioned.

The new era began with a victory albeit the top-order woes still remain. They were brushed over by Root’s brilliance once again but it will need to step up in case the 31-year-old has a bad day in the office.

Also Read – ENG VS NZ: It Is A Change Of Mindset For Everyone: Ben Stokes After Winning The Lords Test