Joe Root, along with Kane Williamson, Steve Smith, and Virat Kohli, is a member of the Fab Four of Test cricket. He is recognised for his good batting technique and accuracy. Root has impressed from the outset, coming from a family with a long history of cricket.
Root began his career as a right-handed opening batsman and occasional off-spinner before moving to the middle order, where he has spent the bulk of his cricketing career. Joe Root has come a long way in his cricket career, from making his debut in 2012 to being named in the ECB’s greatest Test XI to winning the World Cup.
Awards
- Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2014
- ICC Test Team of the Year in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
- ICC ODI Team of the Year in 2015 and 2018.
- England Test Cricketer of the Year in 2015
- England’s Limited-Overs Cricketer of the Year in 2015
- Fan’s Player of the Year in 2015
Career
Domestic Career
Until making his debut for Yorkshire Second Team in 2007, Root learnt the fundamentals of the game at Sheffield Collegiate. He was promoted to the first team after finding success on the second team. Smith also received the Man of the Series award when playing for England’s Under-19 team versus Bangladesh at the same time.
He was also named to the Under-19 Cricket World Cup team in 2010. He made his Championship debut against Worcestershire the next year. Root was the captain of the Yorkshire team who claimed the 2014 and 2015 County Championships.
IPL Career
Joe Root participated in the IPL auction for the first time in the 2018 season. The bidding for Root was ineffective. Due to the 2019 World Cup, the England Cricket Board refused to invite Joe Root to participate in the IPL for the 2019 season.
International Career
Joe Root made his One-Day International debut against the Indian national team in 2013. In his fourth match, he scored his first ODI fifty. Following that, he was named to the squad for the 2013 New Zealand Tour. In the first two games of the series, he hit two half-centuries. Root was called to England’s ICC Champions Trophy squad in 2013. He was called to the ICC’s “Team of the Tournament” after playing a vital role in bringing his team to the final.
After a bad showing in the first two matches, Root was dropped from the ODI series against Australia in 2014, but was recalled for the final match. In 2015, Joe Root was a member of the team that toured the West Indies. Root scored his first ODI century in the series’ third ODI. Root was named Player of the Season for his performance in the series. Root was then picked for the seven-match One-Day International series against Sri Lanka, in which he played admirably despite England’s failure to win the series.
After scoring a century against Sri Lanka in the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Root became the youngest English player to score a century in a World Cup. In 2015, Root was chosen for a tour to the United Arab Emirates to face Pakistan. It was during Root’s match against Pakistan at the time. The ICC called Root as the 12th main in the World ODI XI for the year 2015 after he finished the series with 145 runs.
Root was a member of the England squad for the ODI series against India in 2016. Root scored two half-centuries in the first two games before being forced to withdraw from the final due to injury. Root was named to the 2017 Champions Trophy squad and was named to the ICC’s ‘Team of the Tournament’. In the same year, he became the third-fastest batsman in ODI history to cross 4,000 runs in terms of innings played. Root had a strong year in 2018, hitting 800 runs in just 19 innings. The International Cricket Council (ICC) called him to the World ODI XI for the year 2018.
Joe Root has been appointed to the England squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Root got off to a great start in the championship, scoring three half-centuries in his first six games. Throughout the tournament, Joe Root was instrumental in holding England’s batting lineup intact. Root’s batting style and determination to keep the scoreboard going during the tournament aided England. The ICC has assigned him to the 2019 World Cup Team of the Tournament. Root scored 556 runs in 11 innings during the World Cup.
Joe Root made his Test debut in 2012 against India. In his first innings, he scored 73 runs off 229 hits. He was chosen for the 2013 New Zealand Tour after this season. He only scored 88 runs in the series. After that, New Zealand went on a tour of England. In this series, he scored his first Test century and finished with a total of 243 runs. Root was then named to the 2013 Ashes squad. In the second match of the series, he hit a century.
He also took the series’ first Test wicket. He was then chosen for the Ashes series in 2013-2014. Root struggled during the season and was ultimately benched for the series’ final match. He ended the series with a total of 192 runs. Following the Ashes, Joe Root had a series against India in which he scored 518 runs and took one wicket. The International Cricket Council (ICC) elected him to the World Test XI for 2014.
Root was assigned to England’s squad for the upcoming series against the West Indies. Root retained his good form in the first Test, scoring two half-centuries. He hit his sixth Test century in the second match. Following that, he was called up for the series against New Zealand, where he scored 183 runs and took one wicket.
Before the start of the 2015 Ashes, Root was appointed vice captain of the Test squad. In the first match of the series, he hit a century. In the fourth Test match, he added another century to his tally. He was England’s leading run scorer at the end of the series, and he also topped the ICC Test batting rankings. After that, Joe Root’s next big Test series was against India in 2016. As England lost the series, he had a mixed bag of results. In the 2017-18 Ashes, Root led the English team as captain. England had a bad showing, losing four of their five Tests. Root did not score a century in the series and had to retire due to gastroenteritis in the final match.
In December of 2012, Joe Root made his T20I debut against India. He was chosen for the T20I series against Australia in 2013. In the first match of the series, he scored 90 runs without being dismissed. Joe Root has been named to England’s World Twenty20 squad for 2016. In the final, he scored a half-century and took a wicket, becoming just the third player in ICC World T20 final history to do so. In 2016-17, he was also a part of the series against India. In all three games of the season, he scored 30 points or more.
After Alastair Cook’s retirement in February 2017, Root was appointed full-time Test captain. He became the sixth English player to score a century in his first match as captain. Root’s captaincy has been questioned for a long time, with commentators often criticising his defensive captaincy, such as in the 2017-18 Ashes. Root’s batting average plummeted after taking the captaincy.
Family
Joe Root is the eldest of Helen and Matt Root’s three daughters. Root played for Sheffield Collegiate CC in his early years, a club that his father had previously played for. Carrie Cotterell, Root’s mother, proposed in March 2016 and the pair married in 2018.