London, July 10 England Test team head coach Brendon McCullum has declared Joe Root as one of the best batters in the world, and termed his ability to hand over captaincy to Ben Stokes and then fully concentrate on his batting "quite remarkable".
The 31-year-old Root has been in sublime form, scoring 11 centuries in his last 24 Tests and recently became only the second English cricketer after Alastair Cook to pass 10,000 Test runs.
The former skipper's most recent century an unbeaten 142 against India in the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston was his fifth ton in 2022 and the 28th across his 121-Test career.
Root combined with Jonny Bairstow (114 not out) to score a mammoth 269-run partnership that helped England give shape to a record 378-run chase in 76.4 overs against India.
The charismatic batter's superb showing has come a month after he relinquished his captaincy following the Test series loss to West Indies and teammate Ben Stokes taking over the leadership role.
"What a human being Joe Root is," McCullum said on SEN WA Breakfast on Sunday. "He's an incredible player but what a human being he is as well. His ability to hand over the captaincy and then totally immerse himself in the entire environment and give all of himself to the new captain (Stokes) and to the group has been quite remarkable.
"The skipper made mention the other day that we wouldn't be able to be in a position where we can actually try to improve the English side if it wasn't for Joe's ability to hold the fort for the last five or six years.
"He did a remarkable job and that should never be forgotten. His play just continues to go to a new level," McCullum added.
"Kane Williamson I've always had a remarkable soft spot for, Steve Smith is obviously an absolute gun and you've got Virat Kohli as well. But gee, it's hard to go past Joe Root at the moment one would think," said McCullum.
Root is 12th on the all-time Test run-scorers' chart with 10,458 runs, and averages a superb 50.76.
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