Joe Root Faces Harsh Wake-Up Call Ahead Of Ashes Clash, Might Retire Soon
Over the last few years Joe Root has established himself among the greats of Test Cricket for England. Despite his incredible records, one thing that he still hasn't achieved is to get a century in Australia. He has played a total of 27 innings in Australia, scoring 892 runs with an average of 35.68, smashing nine half centuries. He tried his best to smash centuries against Australia, passing the 80 run mark three times but failing to convert it into a hundred.
Now, according to former England cricketer Monty Panesar, the upcoming Ashes Tour would turn out to be a big game changer for Root in the upcoming years. He gave the example of legendary Indian cricketer Virat Kohli of how a bad tour could force Root to retire from Test cricket.
He said,
"It really depends how next year goes for him, how the Ashes go, we saw very much with Virat Kohli, right? He went to Australia and he just didn't know what to do with that ball outside 4th, 5th stump. I think that kind of led to his decision or collective decision for him to retire. And yeah, if Joe Root doesn't have a good Ashes series and it goes really bad for him."
Further, he said,
"Suddenly all it takes one series and you look, it's a different ball game altogether. England could lose their coach, their captain, if it's a very bad series, a few jobs could be done. Suddenly people begin questioning, is he gone past his best? So it's very important when you go to Australia, doesn't matter how good you are, you've got to perform in Australia."
Former England cricketer Panesar also stated that it will be very tough for Root to smash his first century in Australia and also talked about his calm nature.
He said,
"It is going to be very difficult for him because he's going to be facing a strong Australian attack, and this is probably one of the strongest bowling attacks we've seen. But the form he's shown, and the runs he's scoring, he would probably want to score 100. I'm sure there will be one of those Test matches, where the wicket isn't so bouncy, there's not so much pace in it possibly at Adelaide or, even in Melbourne, depending on the conditions. Well he's got a chance, but anything a bit bouncy or quick, I think, it'd be, it'd be a little bit difficult for him."