HE’S TAKING ROOT
Morgan says that Yorkshire batsman is England’s best ever after incredible innings
EOIN MORGAN believes Joe Root is ‘the most complete’ batsman England has ever produced.
That is quite a mantle for the 25year-old Yorkshireman to assume but the evidence is stacking up in support, not least Friday’s masterclass against South Africa as he marshalled the second-highest chase in Twenty20 history.
His nerveless 83 in 44 balls showcased skills that had not even been imagined when giants of the past such as WG Grace, Jack Hobbs and Len Hutton played, and T20 was still long in the distance during the days of Geoffrey Boycott and Graham Gooch.
But white-ball captain Morgan was a long-time team-mate of Kevin Pietersen, England’s first three-format star, and sees Root in a class of his own above the exiled 35-yearold.
Reflecting on Root’s minor miracle in Mumbai, former Ireland international Morgan said: ‘He is the most complete batsman we’ve ever had.
‘It says a lot, considering the players we’ve had in the past, and players I’ve played with. His innings was class, absolute class. It was so substantial, very special.
‘It was the best chase I’ve been involved with in an England shirt – or in any shirt.
‘It is a monumental innings, given the experience he showed, with a young head on his shoulders but still to come out with an incredible amount of humility. It goes a very long way in our changing room.’
Root’s ability to make minor adjustments to his game between five-day matches and 20-over sprints marks him out as a special talent.
Less than four years into his England career he has nine hundreds in Test cricket and eight more in oneday internationals.
He has played only 16 times in the shortest form but already had three halfcenturies and an impressive strike-rate north of 140.
Root averages 54.93 in Tests, 44.34 in ODIs and 39.66 in T20s – an enviable set of statistics that make him a firm favourite to rewrite the England cricket record books.
‘Four years ago, he made his (T20) debut at this ground in Mumbai at number seven, didn’t get a bat as we chased down 177,’ said Morgan.
‘The turnaround in the player from then to now is quite phenomenal.
‘Other players might be quite onedimensional in looking to get off strike or get a four, he’s looking to diffuse it with any scoring option at all. And it seems to be always lowrisk.
‘He does hit sixes, he does hit fours, but it never seems to be a big issue.
‘It gives a huge amount of confidence to us knowing that he can go out and play the way he does without changing his game a great deal.
‘It shows his class and composure, as if it was a 50-over game or a Test match.’
In the wider context of the World Twenty20, Friday’s victory washes away the bad taste of defeat at the hands of the West Indies in their opening game, when Chris Gayle played an altogether more brutal, but no less effective, innings to swat England away.
Beating South Africa places England as a rogue element in the draw, a side not blessed with consistency, but capable of brilliance. They will still need to beat Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in Delhi to have any confidence of making the semi-finals and for that there must be a change in the bowling ranks. Whether that is one of personnel or application remains to be seen, but Reece Topley and Chris Jordan, in particular, must do more. Liam Plunkett lies as a seam option in waiting and uncapped spinner Liam Dawson will come into the equation if the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium looks conducive to turn.
‘I wasn’t happy with it (the bowling),