The second Ashes Test has concluded, and with that, numerous records have fallen in Joe Root’s kitty. Some good and some ugly. While he became the player with the most runs as England’s Test captain (4859 runs at a batting average of 47.63), he also had the misfortune of becoming the captain with the most losses for England (23 losses in 59 Tests as captain), after their defeat in Adelaide.
2021 has been an incredible year for Joe Root as a batter but not for his captaincy. Looking at this ironic situation of Root, a simple question arises. Does a captain’s great form necessarily reward him as a captain? Let’s try to have a look at this aspect of the game.
Well, in some sense, it does hold
If we look into the cricket history and try to find the answer to our question, somewhere, it does hold, whether we like it or not.
A captain who leads from the front motivates their team to perform better. And thus, it should not come as a shock seeing the name on the top of the list of the most runs as a captain is a guy who rewrote the golden chapter in his team’s history.
Graeme Smith, who took the Proteas’ reign just after a year in his international career, went on to build a prominent Test-playing nation. Not only he was one of the best batters of his time, but he also made sure that his team’s name came in the same breath as that of Australia of the early 2000s. Such was the reputation he had built back in his days.
And speaking of Australia, its no doubt that the list is packed with Australian names. The modern era began from Allan Border (second on the list of most runs as captain), then came the unparalleled dominance by Steve Waugh, and Ricky Ponting very well continued that legacy. Australia made sure to give the captain’s cap to their best batter, and no doubt they produced the best results.
Looking at Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting’s record can testify to this general notion. They are regarded as one of the best batters of their era and demolished their opponents like none. Especially Steve Waugh, who still enjoys the most outstanding W/L ratio of 4.55 (amongst players who have captained at least 25 Test matches) and 71.92 winning percentage of the total Test matches he led. A legend in every right!
We also have to keep in mind that the win-loss ratio of these captains may have been a result of the opportunities they got while leading their side. But, of course, with experience comes wisdom, and the chances of making rookie mistakes further go down with it. Even after saying that, one cannot take away this tremendous achievement of consistently giving out great results on the world stage from these legends.
How have the ‘Fab Four’ fared in this challenge?
Steve Smith
The current leader of the lot in terms of batting average also has the highest batting average as a captain (69.59 batting average in 35 matches). Before the sandpaper scandal, Smith had an arduous task of reviving the dominating Australian cricket, who at that point of time was going through a transformation phase after Michael Clarke’s departure.
While not the best win-loss ratio amongst the Australian captains, he surely has bettered his predecessor, Michael Clarke, who had a W/L ratio of 1.5 in 47 matches. And now, with the recent chance of replacing Pat Cummins in the second Ashes Test, his ratio just improved by a notch, while his batting average fell below 70 – a story of ‘you win some, you lose some’.
Virat Kohli
The one who has the most experience and runs amongst the Fab Four currently as a captain is Virat Kohli. An all-around solid record in batting and as a captain, Kohli is already on the list of the greatest captains in Test cricket.
Even though there has been no century from him in two years, the Indian team has adopted his animalistic aura and emerged as the most dangerous team in recent years. Such has been Virat Kohli’s impact on this team that the contribution comes from every squad member.
Kane Williamson
For most of his career, Kane Williamson was seen as an underrated player whose team also enjoyed the same status. Yet, amidst all this ignorance, he grabbed the maiden World Test Championship for New Zealand.
Also, he is sitting at the top (amongst the current captains) in terms of W/L ratio (2.75 in 38 matches). And no complaints about him as a batter either. The numbers have only gone up for him over the years.
Joe Root
As a batter, Joe has been incredible this year, topping the list of the most runs with 1630 runs at an average of 62.69, but the same cannot be said about his captaincy record this year. A triumph in the Sri Lanka series gave the impression of a new dawn for the English team in Tests, but alas, it went downhill quickly.
While Root’s numbers elevated, the team decided to go the other way. Producing two extremes must have been hard for him, no doubt, considering that his batting numbers, while not bad as such, were not anything special until these two years.
The guy was carrying England on his shoulders and now even on his crown jewels at the ongoing Ashes. The England team management is also searching for answers to this ‘little’ situation.
Conclusion
The answer to our question, to some extent, is – not necessarily. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar, the blessed child of the Cricket God, proved inefficient as a captain (W/L ratio of 0.44 in 25 matches). The tricky position of captaincy tumbles all the equations of any personal performance. Root’s case shouldn’t surprise anyone, as there is a reason why the term ‘team’ is held at the highest level in any sport.