The rise of Joe Root: Yorkshireman was destined to captain England
Friday 17 February 2017 12:03, UK
As Joe Root went about his media duties at Headingley, in his first public appearance as England's new Test captain, there was a sense of inevitability that he had ended up in this position.
While some are thrust into a leadership role, Root has appeared destined to lead England in a way few others have in recent times.
"A natural progression" is how he described his elevation from the vice-captaincy and, given the way the Yorkshireman has acquitted himself and advanced so seamlessly to this point in his career, it is difficult to disagree.
Premonitions that he would captain his country were made long before Root made his England debut, prior even to his first appearance for Yorkshire, with his immense talent and enthusiasm for the game abundantly clear to those around him.
His chance to impress in the professional arena came in 2010, shortly after playing a starring role for England at the Under-19s World Cup, as he made his first-class debut for Yorkshire in May of that year.
It wasn't until the following year that Root really came to the fore though, making his County Championship bow against Worcestershire before going on to hit his maiden first-class century against Sussex later in a summer that saw him rack up 1,013 first-class runs.
By that stage, Root had already played and impressed for England Lions and after another stellar campaign for Yorkshire, he was named Cricket Writer's Club Young Player of the Year in 2012.
With his reputation burgeoning, it came as little surprise when the then 21-year-old Root was handed his England debut on the tour of India that December. His patience and temperament for Test cricket shone through from the off as he made 73 from 229 balls batting at No 6, in Nagpur.
A first Test century came in the summer of 2013, against New Zealand, on his home ground of Headingley and saw him promoted to the top of the order for the 2013 Ashes.
Root played his part in a 3-0 series win as England retained the urn, scoring a magnificent 180 at Lord's.
However, after only one other score over 50, Root was dropped back down to No 6 at the beginning of the return series in Australia that winter. He lasted for only one game though, as Jonathan Trott's departure saw Root bumped up to three.
A difficult series ensued as Australia romped to a 5-0 whitewash and Root founded himself dropped for the final Test after just a solitary half-century in eight innings.
And yet it was that moment, the lowest of his career to date, that has inspired him to the heights he has reached since.
"I was absolutely spewing. I was so angry and gutted because I had not scored runs, not because I thought I deserved to play," Root said in an interview with the Telegraph in 2015.
"In my first Test back against Sri Lanka at Lord's, I sat there waiting to bat and all I could think about was reliving Cooky telling me I was not playing in Sydney. I was using it as an inner motivation."
It clearly did the trick as a double ton against Sri Lanka and two centuries against India followed in the summer of 2014, all of them unbeaten, as Root not only cemented his place in the team but emerged as England's premier batsman.
The year 2015 brought him another two Ashes hundreds as Alastair Cook's side defied the odds to regain the Ashes and avenge their humiliation Down Under. In a year that saw Root amass 1,385 Test runs and rise to the top of the ICC Test batting rankings, he was also named vice-captain - confirmation, in the eyes of many, that Root would be the next England skipper.
The runs continued to flow in 2016 - although Root's frustration at failing to convert more of his seventies and eighties into hundreds has been evident - and once Cook decided to call time on his reign as captain, there was only man to take over.
"As a young kid, growing up, you always aspire to be England captain," Root said at his unveiling, at Headingley. "It's the pinnacle of the Test arena and I'm just really excited about the challenges that are coming my way in the next few months and beyond."
With his dream of captaining his country achieved by the age of 26, there is no reason that Root cannot go on even greater heights and, in his new role, take England with him.
