England vs India 2021: VVS Laxman Praises Joe Root, Says He’s Relishing the Added Responsibilities

Former India batsman VVS Laxman has lauded England skipper Joe Root’s batting after the latter displayed yet another masterclass in batting. Root notched up his second consecutive century against India in the ongoing second Test at Lord’s.

On the back of Root’s magnificent ton, England closed the gap on India’s first innings total of 364. Talking about the 30-year-old’s performance, Laxman reckoned Root has upped his game considering the amount of responsibility he’s carrying on his back.

“Been pure Test match batting 100 we saw. I think he’s relishing the responsibility that lies on him – Joe Root the batsman and as a captain – I think that is getting the best out of him. There were a lot of talks, ‘can Root be consistent? Can he convert those half-centuries into big centuries?’”

“I think he’ll be up there” – VVS Laxman on where Joe Root stands in the ‘Fab Four’ discussion

The famed ‘Fab Four’ are considered to be the best batsmen in the world. Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, and Steve Smith form the list, and each of them has stellar batting records across formats. Root has been the best out of the four in recent times. When asked about the same, Laxman said:

“I think he’ll be up there. I always felt that Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith, I’ll also include Babar Azam in that list – these five players are fabulous batsmen at the highest level. They’re absolute role models to youngsters.”

“They take on the responsibilities, the challenges, they confront. The kind of expectations (they have) to fulfill is never easy. Whenever they score, they put the pressure on the opposition, and that for me stands out as far as these batsmen are concerned. Whenever they get runs, they dictate terms that’s why they’re special players,” he concluded.

In the latest updates from the happenings at Lord’s, England had taken the lead with Root reaching his 150.

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