Former England spinner Monty Panesar feels Joe Root could well be on the same Test career decline as Virat Kohli in the later stages of his career, if he once again fails to score in Australia. The upcoming Ashes tour promises to be a stern challenge not only for England as a team but also for Root, who recently climbed to second place on the list of all-time leading Test run-scorers.
Root has been the standout batter in the post-COVID era, yet one glaring omission remains in his illustrious career — he is still searching for his first century in Australia. Across 27 innings Down Under, Root has amassed 892 runs at an average of 35.68, with nine fifties to his name. On three occasions, he has passed 80, but the elusive three-figure score continues to evade him.
As Root gears up for another Ashes campaign, Monty Panesar believes that it could well determine the future of the star batter’s career in Tests, as a bad series for him and the team could raise doubts.
“It really depends how next year goes for him, how the Ashes go, we saw very much with Virat Kohli, right? He went to Australia and he just didn’t know what to do with that ball outside 4th, 5th stump. I think that kind of led to his decision or a collective decision for him to retire. And yeah, if Joe Root doesn’t have a good Ashes series and it goes really bad for him. Suddenly all it takes one series and you look, it’s a different ball game altogether. England could lose their coach, their captain, if it’s a very bad series, a few jobs could be done. Suddenly pople begin questioning, is he gone past his best? So it’s very important when you go to Australia, doesn’t matter how good you are, you’ve got to perform in Australia,” Panesar said.
“It’s going to be very difficult for him because he’s going to be facing a strong Australian attack, and this is probably one of the strongest bowling attacks we’ve seen. But the form he’s shown, and the runs he’s scoring, he would probably want to score 100. I’m sure there will be one of those Test matches, where the wicket isn’t so bouncy, there’s not so much pace in it possibly at Adelaide or, even in Melbourne, depending on the conditions. Well he’s got a chance, but anything a bit bouncy or quick, I think, it’d be, it’d be a little bit difficult for him,” he added.
