I'm Not Sure I'd Put Myself In Their Bracket: Joe Root On Being A Part Of The 'Fab-4'

Joe Root, England Test captain and one of the leading batsman in the world, believes that the likes of Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Indian superstar, Virat Kohli, are three of the greatest batsmen that the game has ever seen, and he isn’t sure that he would put himself in their ‘bracket’.

Joe Root is among the top-4 leading batsmen of the modern era and a part of the ‘Fab-4’ that includes the aforementioned names, and while the English Test captain does not like to measure himself against other players, he definitely watches how Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Virat Kohli go about their business.

”I try not to measure myself against other players. But I do watch a lot of how they go about constructing different types of innings across the three formats. You’re looking at three of the greatest players the game has seen. They’re three brilliant people to watch play and learn from. I’m not sure I’d put myself in their bracket, to be honest,” Joe Root said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

Root lauded Kane Williamson’s technique and how he always tends to find a way to trust his defense on difficult batting surfaces besides hailing Ashes foe Steve Smith for his ability to make the bowler bowl where he wants them to.

“I look at how late Kane plays the ball, how still and correct he is. How, under pressure, he finds a way to trust his defence on any given surface. That’s a great quality to have.

“You look at Smith and at times he’s just awful to watch. It’s horrible on the eye. But you’d pay to have him in your team. He’s a fantastic run-scorer. The way he thinks about the game and manages passages of play is exceptional. He makes bowlers bowl where he wants them to and his self-confidence you can see by the way he leaves the ball and some of his idiosyncrasies. He’s always trying to find a way to get on top of the opposition. His hunger for big, big scores is fantastic,” he said.

Joe Root then proceeded to hail his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli as the ‘most complete’ player across all the three formats of the game. The 2019 World Cup-winner hailed the Indian superstar for the manner in which he goes about hunting down run-chases besides adding that he does not have any genuine weakness either against pace or spin.

“Virat is probably the most complete player out of the three of them across formats. His ability to chase things down in the limited-overs format and to pace it as well as he does as often as he does and be not out at the end is extraordinary. He’s got a very good all-round game but you wouldn’t say he’s weaker against spin or pace,” Root added.

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