Joe Root, England’s batting maestro, is poised to etch his name as the greatest Test batsman in the country’s history, according to his former teammate Ian Bell. Even if Root falls short of breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s colossal record of 15,921 runs, Bell believes his legacy is secure.
Root recently surpassed Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara to move into sixth place on the all-time list of Test run-getters. His remarkable consistency and ability to adapt to different conditions have earned him widespread admiration.
“He’s played incredibly well in the last 12 months. I don’t think he’s overthinking too much what’s ahead. He’s just sort of living in the moment as we are,” Bell said in an exclusive interview.
Bell acknowledged the daunting task of matching Tendulkar’s record, but he emphasized that Root’s achievements are already extraordinary. “To think that he can even get close to someone like Sachin, a real great of the game, someone that we’ve all admired growing up, as a hero to not just people and fans in India, but around the world,” Bell said. “To think that Joe could get close is an amazing achievement on his behalf.”
England’s recent adoption of the “Bazball” approach, characterized by aggressive batting and a fearless mindset, has unlocked the potential of the current players, according to Bell. “From a fan point of view, you have to look at the results. Since Brendon (McCullum) has come into this England side and (Ben) Stokes has took over, the results have been absolutely fantastic,” he said.
However, Bell stressed the importance of winning away from home in the next cycle of the World Test Championship. “I’m sure they’ve got one eye on the next 12 months, which has five Test matches (against) India at home, which will be a huge challenge,” he said. “India are probably the best team in the world at the moment, and then, Australia away. Those 10 Test matches on the road will be hugely important for that group of players and something they’re gearing themselves up for.”
Bell also highlighted the consistency shown by the Indian team, which has won 17 series in a row at home and its last two series in Australia. “That’s what we’ve seen with India at the moment. They’ve managed to be able to win away from home as much as anyone and that’s the reason why they are the No 1 team in the world at the moment.”
While acknowledging that England’s white-ball revolution has led to diminishing batting averages in Tests, Bell believes the next generation of players is adapting to the demands of modern cricket. “You could definitely have that argument. The next generation of players are growing up with a big diet of T20 cricket in early age and have a look at cricket in England at the moment, there’s a lot of short format cricket in the early age group,” he said.
Bell singled out Virat Kohli as the player who plays his favorite shot, the cover drive, the best among his peers. “It’s very hard to look past Virat Kohli, that is for sure. Not just his cover drive, but the way he plays, his desire for batting, his desire actually in competition and how he goes about his cricket,” Bell said. “When he plays his cover drive, whatever format of the game, it’s a good one to watch.”
