Hosannahs have come thick and fast for the England Test team after beating New Zealand last week in the second Test and clinching the series too. For a side that had been struggling badly in the longest format, this was quite a remarkable turnaround and has fired the imagination of England cricket supporters all over the world for the victory was truly spectacular.
Every Test win is important, but getting the better of a side that has scored more than 500 runs in the first innings is a special feat in itself. To add an even more exhilarating dimension to the win, England chased down 299 in just 50 overs on a tumultuous final day that sent England’s stock in international cricket skyrocketing.
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From keeping their ambition intact even when New Zealand looked in control showed the unrelenting aggressive approach brought into the dressing room by new coach Brendon McCullum and new captain Ben Stokes. At every stage, England were looking to play for a win, not shutting shop even on the last day when they lost four wickets in the run chase, including that of mainstay Joe Root.
To play with danger was McCullum’s calling card as a batter, and he takes this into his coaching too. The bionic century scored by Jonny Bairstow in the run chase was testimony to McCullum’s influence on the team. Bairstow and several other players spoke about this candidly after the match. England’s old bugbear, of safety-first tactics and playing not to lose, was thrown out of the window, and in its wake, came a new, optimistic, gutsy approach filled with daring, looking at exploiting even the tiniest opportunity to win.
McCullum, Stokes (for his all-round performance as well as astute, aggressive captaincy) and Bairstow, who salvaged his Test career, understandably received the most encomiums after the dizzying win. But it would be unfair not to highlight the contributions of other players, especially veterans James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Root.
Of these, I must make special mention of Root. Bairstow’s blitz eclipsed every other batting performance in the match, including Root’s. But many forgot he had scored a marvellous century (his 27th), in the first innings, which kept England level with the Kiwis who had notched up 500-plus. Without his effort, an England win would have been impossible.
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Root had scored a century in the first Test too, in the process getting into the coveted 10K Club, and which had helped England win the match. That he had been unable to revive England’s fortunes when he was captain could not dim the lustre of his batting, when he was in charge, and now, when he is playing under Stokes.
In fact, his form over the past couple of years has been Bradmanesque, and he has rejigged the pecking order among contemporary batters – especially the Fab Four — in stunning fashion.
For most the past decade, Root lagged behind Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli in runs and stature. In this period, Kohli was the most dominant across formats. The top spot was largely his, occasionally shared with Smith and Williamson. Root was always in the running, but unable to get his way to the top.
Around 2019, Root was struggling to get big scores where the other three had been reeling off centuries galore. In the last 2-3 years, however, there has been a dramatic shift in his performances, and he has zoomed upwards leaving the other three behind by a large distance.
Sitting on top now, of course, is Sachin Tendulkar, with 15,921 runs, and expert opinion suggests that Root is the only real threat to Tendulkar’s record among contemporary batters with strong credentials. From the Fab Four, Kohli, Williamson and Smith are all older. So too are prolific run-getters in the past couple of years, David Warner and Rohit Sharma. Babar Azam, who has been in sizzling form in this period, will have to make big runs constantly for 2-3 years continuously to be seen as a serious challenger.
Root’s surge in the last two years has seen the other three who form the Fab Four experience a surprising slump. Smith came back with a bang in 2019 after his suspension was lifted, but has since shown modest form by his own high standards.
Williamson, New Zealand’s bulwark, took his team to the final of the World Test Championship against India, and won the match too with a superb fourth innings knock. But in the past year, he has grappled with injuries and poor form and has looked a shadow of himself.
Most astonishing has been the drop in Kohli’s form. For someone who would reel off centuries for fun, he hasn’t scored one since late 2019. The runs which used to come in a flood have also become hard to get.
Interestingly, Root’s rise to eminence has come since the Covid pandemic struck. Where most other major players have suffered from the anxiety of living in bio-secure bubbles, he has looked unfettered. In 2021 alone, Root scored 1,708 Test runs with six centuries. He’s added a couple more centuries in this series.
Till 2019, the pecking order of the Fab Four was Kohli at the top followed by Smith/Williamson, then Root. Now Root is No.1 by a mile, followed by Smith, Williamson with Kohli no.4. That is not just credit to himself, but also the biggest source of strength to the England team’s revival.
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