England Test captain Ben Stokes applauded Joe Root as England’s greatest ever batter and he also feels the record for most Test runs is not far away from Root as well. However, Root has been in sublime form during England’s ongoing home Test season against the West Indies and Sri Lanka as well.
Root is coming off centuries in both innings of England’s series-clinching second Test win over Sri Lanka at Lords as well. Root is currently seventh in the chart with 12,377 runs in 145 games.
Stokes, who is currently recovering from a hamstring injury sustained during the Hundred, said on Sky Sports: “He is just awesome. He is England’s greatest-ever batter and it is going to be hard to find another one like him for a very long time. Harry Brook maybe could do what he has done, but what Joe has achieved in the game is absolutely amazing and there is plenty more to come. That record of the most Test runs by a player is getting closer and closer.”
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“The thing about Joe is he is so unselfish, he puts the team first in whatever decision-making there is throughout a Test match or even throughout a series. He is an amazing player. I don’t think there is much more I can say about him, I have pretty much done all the superlatives with Joe in the 10 or 12 years I have played with him,” he shared.
Overall runs apart, Joe Root is also joint-sixth all-time in Test centuries with 34 and has a healthy red-ball average of almost 51 as well. Ben Stokes also praised stand-in captain Ollie Pope for doing a great job leading the side in the Test series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka as well.
“I think Popey has done a brilliant job. “We are 2-0 up, we have been put under pressure at different times in the series against Sri Lanka and I think the way that Popey has reacted to those situations and wrestled momentum back into the game is something he has done really well,” again said Stokes.
“He has been amazing. I earmarked him as someone I thought could be successful at Test cricket on the India tour even though he didn’t play a game. He bowls at a high pace, he is a very skilful bowler and he has shown he has got more than just running in and bowling it fast. He has shown the world and himself what he is capable of with bat in his hand. For your first summer in Test cricket, I can’t remember there being a bigger impact,” Ben Stokes concluded.
