Comparisons between me and Kohli will always be there: Joe Root

Joe Root is one of the finest modern day batsmen. In very short time, he has become the go-to man of English cricket. With great performances come great comparisons. The debate about the best batsman of modern day cricket is never going to cease. However, there are two names that will always be constant in the coveted list.

England’s Joe Root and India’s Virat Kohli are often tipped as the generation next legends. No wonder why they are compared to one another as well. In a recent conversation with Sky Sports News HQ, Root was unfazed about the comparisons. While it can get pretty irritating for a player to be compared to someone time and again, Root looked absolutely normal about it.

He mentioned that the comparisons of him and Kohli will be there for quite some time. Currently, England are touring India for a long season. Root has amassed 299 runs in 3 Tests at an average just below fifty. Kohli, on the other hand, averages 101.25 in 6 innings with 405 runs to his name. “I think it’s always going to be there or at least for the next six months or so while we are in India,” Joe Root quoted.

The English batsman was in praise for Indian Test skipper. He mentioned that the way Kohli is playing is a good learning lesson for batters to see how to bat in these conditions. He also cited that throughout the series, it has been Kohli’s wicket that the visitors have cherished the most.

“But I think the way he plays is a lesson on how to play on these wickets. In this series, he’s shown a great level of responsibility because when he’s not got runs we look like we’ve been able to take a cluster of quick wickets and when we have got him out things have changed quite quickly,” quoted the English batsman.

Root added further that if India are to win the series, they will be banking a great deal on Kohli’s batting. Also, he remarked that the pressure on the Indian batsman must be huge. He quoted, “There must be a huge amount of pressure on him in that side and he must know that. To score the runs that he has done I think has been massive for them [if they are to succeed] in winning this series.”

Root is hopeful to come good in the next two matches. He knows that he has got starts but failed to convert it to big knocks thus far. Despite starting off with a century at Rajkot, another century has eluded him. “It was nice to get off to a good start in the first game but twice after I got to 50 and didn’t manage to kick on,” Root said.

“It would be nice if I did get the opportunity to get in over the next two games and go big and make a real good contribution to hopefully a good first innings score to set up a win, or chase something down and do something special out there,” he concluded.