Haven’t Seen Any England Player Bat Better Than This – Michael Vaughan On Joe Root’s Superb Form

Michael Vaughan has hailed the current form of Joe Root as the best he has ever seen any England batsman bat.

En route his sublime fifty at Headingley against India – not dismissed at the time of writing – the England captain went past 1300 runs this year, averaging a shade over 70, with the help of 5 centuries. That he notched up his half-century in just 57 balls has got everyone buzzing once again.

He had been toiling hard, carrying the side on his back for the entire year with little support from other batsmen. But, at Leeds Joe Root got a perfect foil at the other end in form of Dawid Malan, which liberated the right-hander to play his shots from the onset of his innings.

As Joe Root looks set for another hundred – he has already hit 5 this year – former captain Michael Vaughan put out a tweet applauding this freakish form of the Yorkshireman.

In fact, it is Vaughan himself who holds the record of most Test runs by an Englishman in a calendar year – 1481 runs at 61.70 in 2002; second on that list is Joe Root with 1477 runs in 2016.

The England captain is likely to surpass Vaughan against India in the ongoing series.

Overall, it is Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf, with 1788 runs he scored in 2006, at the top of the list. Joe Root has got a good chance to surpass Yousuf as he has, after the Leeds Test against India, five more games – two in the current series and three in the Ashes – before closing out the year, given he continues this freakish form.

Fifties from top four help England take lead over 200 runs

Half-centuries from each of England’s top four – Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Malan and Root – have taken their lead past 200 in the second session of Day 2 after they had bowled India out for 78 on Day 1.

Burns and Hameed put on a 135-run opening stand, which was broken by Mohammed Shami in the morning session with the wicket of Burns. Ravindra Jadeja accounted for Hameed’s wicket ahead of lunch. But, instead of succumbing to the pressure, Malan, returning to the Test side after three years, and Root played their shots on a fairly flatter surface, and the hosts are on their way to bat India out of the game.

Also Read: I Have Seen For A Long Time That Babar Azam Hasn’t Scored A Test Hundred: Inzamam-ul-Haq

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