Nasser Hussain reckons Joe Root needs to be harder on himself to be in Smith-Kohli league

Former English skipper Nasser Hussain recently shared some words of advice for English skipper Joe Root. Team England are struggling big time in the ongoing Ashes. While Root’s Australian counterpart, Steve Smith, is plundering runs at will, Root has largely failed in accumulating runs in the series. This has hurt his team dearly.

As per the recent quotes in Metro.co.uk, Nasser Hussain suggested Root to be hard on himself. He remarked that if Root wishes to be in the league of players like Virat Kohli and Steve Smith, then he has to look beyond the 60s and 70s. He needs to rack up runs like the other are doing. They have excellent conversion rates and that is what makes them special talents.

“The greatest batsmen – guys like Virat Kohli and Steve Smith – have excellent conversion rates. They grasp the simple fact that you don’t win Tests with pretty 50s and 60s: you win them with big hundreds or even doubles. At some point, Root is going to have to sit down and ask himself whether he’s working out those percentages properly,” quoted Nasser Hussain.

“He’s got all the shots in the world. But if he wants to be remembered as one of the greats – and he has the talent – then he’ll need to be harder on himself,” he added.

Taking a leaf out of Cook’s book

Speaking further on the same note, Nasser Hussain drew comparisons between Alastair Cook and Joe Root. He cited that Root often tries to look more attractive when playing his shots. Hence, he ends up compromising on the basic necessity of the game – scoring runs. On the contrary, Alastair Cook has a dodgy style. He is least bothered about the aesthetics of the game and is only concerned with scoring runs.

Nasser asked Root what priority he wishes to set amidst this backdrop. Does he wish to continue playing the way he is and end up with only 50s, or does he wish to be in the league of masterclass batsmen with tons and doubles.

“You could hardly get two more different batsmen. Cook has always had a dodgy technique, whereas Root’s is almost flawless. Root clearly has this in-built desire to entertain but Cook is there to score runs. He’s said himself that he’s not fussed with the aesthetics of the game, as Root obviously is – and a good thing too, because it makes cricket so much more watchable,” Nasser remarked.

“It will be up to him [Root] now to work out which way he wants to go. Does he want to keep making attractive 60s and walking off furious with himself, or does he want to take a leaf out of Cook’s book and go for the jugular?” he added further.

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