Joe Root disagrees that Test captaincy has been affecting his performance

Australian spin legend Shane Warne voiced his opinion on English Test skipper Joe Root’s captaincy, saying that the burden of leadership has had a negative impact on his batting and that Jos Buttler instead should be made the captain. Warne, who worked with Buttler in his role as a mentor for the Indian Premier League (IPL) outfit Rajasthan Royals, confidently said that the wicketkeeper-batsman has incredible Test leadership skills.

In the wake of these comments, Root has said that being Test captain has not had a negative effect on his batting. He made a century on his captaincy debut against South Africa last year but his ton against India at The Oval last month was only his second since.

An exceptional batsman otherwise, Joe Root hasn’t been in the best of form since being elevated to the captaincy position. According to the skipper, batting on No. 3, in tandem with the difficult batting conditions in England this summer, are the reasons for his relatively poor batting form.

When asked if being skipper is hindering his batting, he told Sky Sports: “No, not at all. I think this summer batting at three [against India] was playing on my mind a little bit more than anything else. The surfaces we were playing on made it very difficult at the top of the order – it was seaming and swinging for high-quality bowlers. There are always going to be question marks if you are not scoring the runs you have in the past or that you would like to, there is always going to be a reason behind it.”

The next assignment for Joe Root

Root, who moved to the No. 4 batting position in the last Test against India, will lead his side in three Tests in Sri Lanka this winter upon the completion of the limited-overs fixtures between the two sides. Along with Virat Kohli, the English player is regarded as the best Test batsman in the world, but his recent numbers have been unimpressive.

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