Joe Root silenced critics at Leeds but knows he remains under pressure to perform
Halfway through the third Test Joe Root’s captaincy was being loudly questioned. However, a timely half century and an improbable win has England’s key batsman backing himself again.
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Joe Root can’t avoid the damaging whispers about his under-fire captaincy, but hopes to have revived his series with a critic-silencing half-century which helped England avoid an Ashes humiliation.
Before Ben Stokes peeled off arguably the greatest innings of all-time to win the third Test at Leeds, Root stood up to inspire his side with a second innings 77 which laid the platform for England’s mind-boggling one-wicket victory.
Stokes’ astonishing, unbeaten 135 will forever be in the discussion for finest individual Test performances, but if not for Root’s return to form the world may not have seen the all-rounder’s heroics.
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It ended a run of back-to-back ducks and eased the pressure on Root’s leadership, briefly halting calls for a change to the captaincy.
England have played 31 Tests since Root took over as captain in 2017, winning 16 and losing 12 – with three draws – but the knives have been out for the star batsman, who pushed himself up to first drop for the Ashes but has dropped back to No. 4 for Old Trafford.
Root attempts to block out the criticism, but admits it can be overwhelming at times.
“You can’t avoid them. You hear them. It’s everywhere, isn’t it, on social media now,” Root said of his captaincy critics.
Despite a rough start to the Ashes, Root insisted his personal belief in his own batting remained unshaken.
“I know I can play. I’m proven at this level,” said Root, who averages 48.2 at Test level with 16 centuries.
“Sometimes you just have a couple of tough weeks and they’re strung together and as a batting side you’re not scoring the runs you want and as a captain and a senior batter you come under the spotlight.
“You have to handle that, you have to accept that and you can’t have too much baggage when you go in.
“You’ve just got to back your experiences and have that belief in your own game.”
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And so it proved, as Root remained resilient in the face of stinging condemnation of his side’s 67 all out capitulation to show his captaincy qualities and start the fightback – along with Joe Denly – as part of a 126-run third-wicket partnership to rescue England from 2-15 after both openers failed.
“That situation has probably brought the best out of me – everything on the line, I had to stand up and give us an opportunity to get back into the match,” Root added.
“I take a lot of confidence from that but we start again this week.”
Of his move back down the order, Root said it was done in part to unlock the potential of misfiring opener Jason Roy – who will enjoy life more away from the seaming new ball.