Leeds [UK], June 18 : England's talismanic batter Joe Root declared that it is his time to pay back Test skipper Ben Stokes, who did so much for him while serving as his deputy during his captaincy tenure that lasted from 2017 to 2022.
Out of the Yorkshireman's current tally of 13,006 Test runs, 3,117 of those have come in the last three years and 36 Tests since the captaincy mantle was passed down to the flamboyant all-rounder three years ago.
Root, who initially felt weird after returning to the team after serving as the leader, has averaged 56.67 during what he describes as the most enjoyable period of his career. For the 34-year-old, the best way to support Stokes was to pile up runs on the board.
"Ben did so much for me as my vice-captain, now it's my turn to give a bit back to him. It was difficult and weird coming back into the team after being leader. I didn't want to get in Ben's way or step on his toes, but I wanted him to know I was there to support him," Stokes told Skt Sports.
"I knew a big part of that was scoring runs. I wanted to make sure I could affect games with the bat, and clearly, if I was following his lead as a former captain, it sends a strong message to anyone coming into the team or not as established as myself," he added.
Brendon McCullum was appointed as the head coach and formed a dynamic partnership with Stokes to give birth to the 'Bazball' style of play in 2022. The traditional norm of the theory revolves around playing an attacking brand of cricket, but Root feels there is a lot more to that method of play than what is perceived from the naked eye.
"It has become the most fun time of my career. Playing the way we play, the environment that has been created. The job Ben and [head coach] Brendon [McCullum] have done has been fabulous, and so much fun has come with it," he said.
"It might not always get reported how it actually is - I don't think Bazball is the right way to describe it. It has clearly been a big change and is different to how a lot of teams play, but there is a lot more method to it than is probably perceived," he added.
Stokes will need Root's prolific form in the upcoming five Tests against India, which are scheduled to kick off on June 20 at Headingley. Even though India will line up without its batting bigwigs Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who retired from the format last year, the revamped tourists still have been deemed a high-profile threat.
India's squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana
England squad for first Test vs India: Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (capt), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
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