Former English cricketer and current batting coach Graham Thorpe believe that Joe Root's longevity in Test cricket is a real achievement and said that it requires a good sense of humor to play that amount of cricket.
England skipper Joe Root was in a red hot form in the recently concluded 2-0 Test series sweep over Sri Lanka. The talismanic batsman amassed a startling 426 runs at a stunning average of 106.50 in four innings including two centuries with a high score of 228.
However, Joe Root’s next assignment will be the four-match Test series against India starting 5th February as the visitors are scheduled to play 4 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 5 T20Is matches against the hosts.
With England’s first Test match against India, Joe Root is all set to join the Elite group of English players who have played 100 Tests for the country as he will become just the 15th Englishman in 144 years of Test cricket to have appeared in a hundred matches.
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England’s batting coach Graham Thorpe, who is among the previous 14 Englishmen to achieve the milestone, said that to play 100 Tests is a great feat.
"To play a hundred Test matches, it's no mean feat. His family will be very proud. He has always remained humble. He is a great student of the game. It is a real achievement because of the longevity of it.”
“You need a good sense of humor to play that amount of cricket because you will experience highs but there will some moments in there where you have your lows. You have to show a bit of character and resilience, you have to keep adapting and sometimes you will have to tinker with your technique and you have to manage all of that." Graham Thorpe said in a press conference.
Graham Thorpe, 51, recalled his initial experience of watching Joe Root in action and said that he had a great work ethic.
"What I saw early on with Joe and I was fortunate enough to see some of his early games with Yorkshire, was character really. Character and temperament... He just had a great work ethic. He is always trying to get better,” he said.
Reflecting on Root’s heroics in Island nation, Thorpe said that Root’s example is one for all England players to follow.
"He has shown that in the series in Sri Lanka that he wants to be a good example. The players who are in the team with him have a very good example to watch about how he goes about his business,” he concluded.
With his stunning batting show of 186 runs in the recently concluded second Test match against Sri Lanka, Joe Root surpassed Kevin Pietersen and David Gower to become the fourth-highest run-scorer for England in Tests
(AFP Inputs)
