5 Players who can lead England Test team

Over the last four years, we’ve seen a massive change in England cricket. The shift has been to be the best white-ball side in the world. The goal was the 2019 World Cup and they achieved that. However, there have been times where Test cricket has suffered because of the same.

Hence, England have blown hot and cold quite a bit in the longest format. Alastair Cook stepped down from captaincy in early 2017. Joe Root has been at the helm since then. However, under his captaincy, England have won and lost almost equally. In 32 Test matches, he has led, England have won 16 and lost 13 while the other three have been draws.

Moreover, under Root, England have failed to win two successive Ashes series. Hence, his position might be under threat. Moreover, Root has struggled with the bat as captain. His numbers show a big difference before and after taking over as captain. Thus, here we look at five players who can lead the England Test side.

1. Ben Stokes

At the moment, Ben Stokes is at the peak of his powers. He was simply brilliant in the World Cup. He has been England’s best batsman in the Ashes and won them the Leeds Test single-handedly. Moreover, he gives it his all with the ball and in the field.

Stokes has been England’s go-to man for quite some time now. He can walk into the side as a pure bowler and a pure batsman as well. Moreover, he was promoted as the Test vice-captain. However, he was at the same position two years back before the brawl in Bristol saw him miss a lot of cricket.

England dearly missed him in his absence. The all-rounder’s absence from the XI saw England’s balance get affected big time across all formats. Hence, Stokes is almost invaluable to the side and is nearly undroppable. Thus, he can well lead the side and it may continue to improve his performances.