Joe Root recalls how he desperately wanted to see Sachin Tendulkar bat

English skipper Joe Root has been having a great time on the field. Root is currently leading the English side in the 3-match Test series against West Indies. The hosts have already established a 1-0 lead in the series and are well on course to register an unassailable lead of 2-0 as well. Team Windies have failed to put up a strong fight against the spirited hosts.

This was evident when England beat them in the first Test by an innings and 209 runs. With such one sided games on the cards, it would not be a surprise to see the English top order doing the bulk of the scoring in the coming fixtures. What this could potentially mean for the fans that they might be deprived of seeing Joe Root in action, who comes in at number 4 these days.

As per the recent quotes in Times of India, Root recalled a similar incidence when he was in the fan stand and waited the entire day to see Sachin Tendulkar in action. Back in the year 2002, when team India played England at Headingley, Root had turned up to the stadium on the first day to see the legendary cricketer in action. Much to his disappointment, Sachin Tendulkar walked in to bat at the fag end of the day and remained unbeaten on 18.

“I remember coming here as a young boy watching Yorkshire in a Roses game. Obviously I wanted to be a part of it straight away. The first Test match (I saw at Headingley) was against India. I think they only lost one wicket all day, India. I was desperate for Sachin to get in,” quoted Joe Root.

Talking about the match, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly had stunned everyone by opting to bat first in the match. After losing Virender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar early, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar scored magnificent tons to take India to a huge total. Later, Ganguly also scored a brilliant century as India posted 628 runs on the board with Sachin top scoring with 193. India went on to win the match by an innings and 46 runs.

Privilege to lead England

Commenting on the fact that he would be leading the national side at such an iconic venue, Joe Root conceded that it feels very special to lead the team in front of his home base where he has watched so much of cricket over the years.

“I’ve watched a lot of cricket over the years here and now to get the opportunity to lead England here is obviously very special. To be at home, a place where I’ve played a lot of cricket, grown up learning the game, watching the game, it means a lot,” said the English skipper.