Yet after his latest match-winning batting masterclass in this second ODI against the West Indies in Cardiff, it is obvious that the Yorkshireman will be key to any hopes this team have of winning the next World Cup in southern Africa in two years’ time.
His influence on this match was immense. England were heading for a demoralising 10th defeat in 12 ODIs when they were reduced to 133 for five following the dismissal of Jacob Bethell in the 24th over of the chase.
Will Jacks partnered Root to dig England out of a hole after the hosts had been 133-5 (Photo: Getty)However, a partnership of 143 in 121 balls turned this contest on its head. Jacks departed with England 33 shy of their target.
Yet this was a performance that went beyond this match, with Root, on the way to posting his highest score in this format, also overtaking Eoin Morgan to become England’s leading ODI runscorer.
His latest masterclass also saw him notch his 54th century in international cricket, this one coming in just 98 balls.
150 FOR JOE ROOT! pic.twitter.com/3y0xOY5ChY
Already England’s all-time leading Test runscorer, a record he took from Sir Alastair Cook during last winter’s tour of Pakistan, Root is also the current No1-ranked Test batter.
No doubt Brendon McCullum, watching on from the balcony at Sophia Gardens, thought as much too.
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The feeling is, though, that he will brush aside that one nagging omission from his career record this coming winter.
This wasn’t all perfect from Root. Indeed, he would have been out on seven had Matthew Forde got the decision when trapping England’s best batter on the crease.
At that point, England had already lost openers Jamie Smith and Ben Duckett for ducks.
Another Yorkshireman in Adil Rashid also reached a landmark during this game, his haul of four for 63 taking him to 412 wickets for England across all formats and past Graeme Swann to become his country’s most prolific spinner in international cricket.
Adil Rashid has now surpassed Graeme Swann as England’s most prolific spinner (Photo: Getty)Yet his batting is what ultimately defined this match, with Stuart Broad, now sitting in the Sky Sports commentary box, left in awe of his former teammate’s performance.
“There was a little period of time when England looked like they had moved on from Joe Root in this format,” said Broad. “But it just shows his value – he’s just a wonderful player.”
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