Root on road to captaincy, like other greats of modern game

WHENEVER Joe Root takes over the England Test captaincy he will draw another parallel with the three other batsmen whom he has seemingly been destined to track throughout his impressive career – Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson.

- Chris Stocks

India v England

5th Test, Chennai, Dec 16-20, 04:00 GMT

All three currently lead India,Australia and New Zealand respectively.

With Root, they are the outstanding batsmen of their generation and look destined to dominate across all formats for years to come.

Root, at 25, is the youngest of the four, Kohli the oldest at 28. But all four were born within 25 months of each other.

Kohli, Smith and Williamson have seen a jump, too, in their performances in Test cricket since being handed the captaincy.

Could Root, who made his debut in the final Test of England’s last series in India at Nagpur four years ago, repeat that success from his already rarefied level of performance?

Alastair Cook, England’s Test captain who stated this week his deputy is “ready” for the job, says: “You just never know. I think a lot of players have a bit of a spurt when they first take over the captaincy and it levels out after a couple of years when you probably find your genuine level.

“I was asked a very direct question a couple of days ago about it. But the moment he got off the plane in India in 2012 as a very young-looking Joe Root you knew he was ready for international cricket. Every challenge that’s been thrown at him he’s handled. So I don’t think anything over the next few years will faze him.