Joe Root Is A Notch Below Kohli, Smith And Williamson: Sunil Gavaskar
Published - 11 Feb 2021, 06:13 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:44 PM
Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar believes that even though England captain Joe Root is in brilliant form, he is a notch below the likes of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson.
Joe Root is currently in the form of his life, having already smashed three daddy hundreds in three Tests this year.
Root followed up his scores of 228 and 186 in Sri Lanka with a chanceless 218 in what was his 100th Test during England’s 227-run win over India earlier this week. The England captain has moved to 3rd place in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen following a brilliant showing in the last three Tests.
“He is very very good. But I don’t think he is the best batsman in the world. There are four contenders for that and he is amongst the four contenders. But I think he is just a notch below the other three,” said Sunil Gavaskar on Star Sports.
Meanwhile, former England batsman Mark Butcher has hailed Joe Root as the best in the world at the moment.
“He is the best player playing right now because the others haven’t got many Test cricket going at the moment. So the form he is in, there is no one better than him right now,” he said.
Sunil Gavaskar hails Joe Root for his brilliant knock of 218 in Chennai
The most impressive thing about Root’s double ton in Chennai, according to Sunil Gavaskar, was the confidence that the 30-year-old displayed in his footwork, especially against the spinners.
“What was most impressive about Joe Root’s double ton was the fact that he was so confident from the word go and the positivity with which he moved either forward or he went back. He made sure when he was forward, he was smothering the turn and when he was back he was making sure that he had the room to play the cut shot or the pull shot,” observed Gavaskar.
The former opener also heaped high praise on Joe Root for the manner with which he meticulously employed the sweep shot.
“And then of course the use of the sweep shot against the spinners. That was very calculated, it wasn’t just a random sweep shot. It was a very thoughtful sweep shot and that is the reason he has been so successful in the subcontinent in the last three Test matches,” concluded Gavaskar.
