Former England captain Michael Vaughan has criticized former Australia coach Darren Lehmann for claiming that Joe Root is not an "all-time great" like his contemporaries Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, and Steve Smith.
Lehmann, a former Australian batsman, rated Kohli higher than Root after India defeated Australia in the first Test in Perth because Root had yet to achieve a century in Australia.
Despite blasting 35 Test tons and closing in on Sachin Tendulkar's record for most Test runs in the game, next year's Ashes could be his last chance to break the Aussie curse, Root did not have the same stamp of approval from Lehmann as Kohli, who has seven Test hundreds Down Under.
"Joe Root is a great player, but is he an all-time great? He’s had four [three] goes in the Ashes, hasn't made a hundred. A rung below for that reason. They've made runs all over the world in difficult conditions against different oppositions. And that’s the only thing stopping Joe Root. I think he’s a great player, but is he in that upper echelon?" Lehmann had told ABC Sports.
Michael Vaughan, however, says that’s not a benchmark to rate a batter below or higher than his peers, especially given that Root is just 3145 runs away from eclipsing the great Tendulkar.
In the first Test against New Zealand, Root (1630 and counting) surpassed Tendulkar (1625) as the most runs scored by a batter in the fourth innings in a Test match.
Vaughan has been a loud supporter of Root's playing, putting him on a higher pedestal than Kohli - he recently compared Root and Kohli's Test numbers to demonstrate his argument - so it was not surprising to see him protest.
"What a load of nonsense. We're talking about a player that could quite easily – if he stays fit and that back stays strong – surpass Sachin Tendulkar in a few years,” Vaughan said on SEN Mornings, replying to Darren Lehmann’s statement on Root.
Coming to Root’s Test record against Australia, the England batter has played 34 Ashes Tests, scoring 2428 runs at an average of 40.47, including four centuries.
However, when his record in Tests in Australia is considered, Root has only 892 runs from 14 matches at an average of 35.68. His highest score is an innings 89 at Brisbane in December 2021. Root has eight fifties in Test matches Down Under, but the former England captain has never been able to convert it into a hundred.
Root might finally score that elusive Test hundred in Australia when England travels down under for the Ashes next year. However, that alone cannot define the greatness of Root, reckons Vaughan.
"Just because he's not got a hundred here in Australia, this isn't the be-all and end-all. You'd like to come here, and score runs. But he'll come next year in the way that he's playing in this England side now at four – playing the Joe Root way rather than the Bazball way – I've got a sneaky feeling that might come back to haunt Darren next year.
He might get a couple of hundreds next year and the way that England are playing, particularly against this Kookaburra ball, I think it’s going to be a great contest," said Vaughan.
On the other hand, Root and Kohli will face off when India travels to England for a five-Test series next year.
