Ashes 2021-22: Joe Root Becomes England's Most Capped Test Captain

England skipper Joe Root became the most capped Test captain to lead England in the red-ball format on Wednesday in the fourth Ashes Test against Australia in Sydney.

Root surpassed his predecessor, Sir Alastair Cook, as he played his 60th Test match as England’s captain. Cook led England in 59 games between 2010-2016, he stepped down from the role after his side lost 0-4 to India in 2016.

Joe Root surpasses Sir Alastair Cook to become England’s most-capped Test captain

Root was appointed as England’s next captain in February 2017 and since then he has managed to win 27 matches and suffer losses in 24 with eight games ending as a draw. The Yorkshire player has a 45% win ratio as England’s Test captain.

Root has been leading his side in his third Ashes series but has been unsuccessful in winning the urn since his first attempt in 2017/18 in Down Under.

Despite his phenomenal year with the bat in 2021 where he amassed 1708 runs at an average of 61, Root had to be on the wrong end of enduring the humiliation of losing Ashes in the Boxing Day Test.

The Australians never let England settle right from the start of the first Test in Brisbane where they won by nine wickets inside four days.

They followed their success with a 275-run victory in Adelaide despite some dogged resistance by Jos Buttler to delay the result.

Australia thumped England on the third day of the Boxing Day Test match as they sealed the win by an innings and 14 runs to win the Ashes after leading 3-0.

Joe Root hasn’t played that match-defining knock: Pat Cummins

Root is leading the run-charts, having amassed 253 runs from six innings with the help of three 50-plus scores with his highest score being 89. One thing that Root would like to achieve by the end of the Ashes is a Test hundred on Australian soil, something he has failed in 23 innings.

Root’s counterpart Pat Cummins is thankful to his bowlers for not letting the England skipper play the big knock he is capable of.

“Yeah, I think he (Root) has been batting really well. But yeah, hasn’t played that match-defining knock which has been great. I think everyone’s bowled really well at him,” Cummins said in a press conference.

“Someone like Cam Green to step up, as a captain, I feel like I’ve got a lot of options to throw at him. That’s what you need when you’re playing against the best players in the world. So, yeah, he’s looked good, it’s up to us to try and keep him quiet. But that’s been a really pleasing part of our bowling attack so far,” he added.

Root has scored 9531 Test runs from 113 games at an average of 49 and has 53 half-centuries and 23 centuries to his name.

Also Read: Joe Root Needs To Continue As England Captain: Michael Vaughan