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Joe Root. Credit: Twitter

England’s Test captain, Joe Root admits that he has suffered a dip in his batting form in the past couple of years in Test cricket. However, Root claims that it hasn’t been as bad as people are making it look like.

England will take on Sri Lanka in a two-match series, which begins Joe Root’s mammoth challenge to lead the side in what could possibly be a 17 Test match period. After the two Tests against Sri Lanka, England will travel to India for 4 Tests. They are expected to host New Zealand and India again before touring Down Under for a 5-match exhilarating Ashes series.

Faf du Plessis, Joe Root, South Africa
Joe Root. Image-Twitter.

Speaking to Michael Atherton, Joe Root points out that he has made the odd half-centuries, but it the three-figure mark which has eluded him for a long time now. The England skipper went without a Test ton in the entire 2020 – similar to Virat Kohli and Steve Smith – his last coming on a flat deck in New Zealand in 2019.

“I am very aware that in the last year or so of my career I have underperformed to my own standards. I have not been at my absolute best but I have not been really struggling.

“It’s just been frustrating that I have not had those really big scores that really contribute to winning games. I have pitched in here and there with the odd fifty-plus score but it doesn’t have the same feeling as a batter,” Joe Root told Sky Sports.

That is the driver for me moving forward: Joe Root

England has won their last three series – against South Africa, West Indies, and Pakistan– however, Joe Root wishes to contribute more to his team with the bat by converting his fifties to hundreds. He was in sublime form since 2014, the year when he averaged a colossal 97 – he had a blip in form in 2019, where he averaged a sub-standard 37.

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I Have Not Been At My Absolute Best But I Have Not Been Really Struggling: Joe Root
Joe Root. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images,)

The 30-year-old Yorkshireman has a big season coming up, one that could seal his captaincy legacy with the likes of Andrew Strauss – Joe Root surely has the team for that – and batting heights once again in the league of other three stalwarts – Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson.

“You want to be making the big contributions, helping the side get across the line. That is the driver for me moving forward – to make more hundreds, to make those big, winning scores.”

“There is no better feeling than doing well and winning games. Setting it up for your guys to go out there and take 20 wickets or you being there at the end having knocked off a score. Hopefully, there will be a few occasions like that in the next 17 Test matches,” added Joe Root.

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