England’s Joe Root, widely regarded as the heir apparent to Sachin Tendulkar’s Test run-scoring throne, has downplayed his team’s recent loss to Sri Lanka with a witty analogy.
After England’s eight-wicket defeat in the final Test of the three-match series, Root, who was named England’s Player of the Series and the ‘Player of the Summer,’ drew a comparison to the popular rock band Coldplay.
“We are not always going to get it right all of the time,” Root said. “For 90% of the summer, we have. We have shown what a good team we can be. I don’t think we played our best cricket this week, and that is going to happen from time to time. Coldplay can’t be number one every week.”
Despite the loss, Root finished the series with 375 runs, adding to his 291 runs against the West Indies earlier in the summer. At 33, Root is arguably playing the best cricket of his red-ball career.
Root praised the England Test team’s performance throughout the summer. “We are constantly learning and evolving as a group, and it is nice to contribute to that,” he said. “It is important we are authentic to what we are as a team and what brings out the best in our individual players.”
With 10,354 Test runs to his name, Root is the only active cricketer with more than 10,000 Test runs. He is also the closest active player to Tendulkar’s record of 15,921 Test runs.
If Root continues to perform at his current level, he could potentially challenge Tendulkar’s record in the coming years. However, Root remains humble about his chances of surpassing the Indian legend.
“It’s a long way away,” Root said. “I’m just trying to focus on the next game and the next series. I’m not looking too far ahead.”
