Joe Root: The England legend’s century underscores his great standing as a batsman

Root’s status as one of the all-time greats is not news to the cricketing public.

However, perhaps one of the most under-appreciated aspects of his game is his knack for handling spin and sub-continental pitches which help slower bowlers.

While England have often stumbled on their tours of Asia, Root has often flourished.

He now stands third in the list of non-Asian ODI run-scorers against spin in Asia with 1,118 at an average of 69.87, behind Jacques Kallis (1,151) and Ricky Ponting (1,330).

“Joe’s spin is absolutely fantastic because he can maneuver the ball,” former England international Dawid Malan told BBC Sport.

“It’s different challenges, batting in the subcontinent. Wickets vary from one ground to another.

“The last wicket they played on, it turned into a square, and it was incredibly slow. Today, it didn’t turn as much and it was a better wicket to play on.

“You have to adapt one game at a time. Joe found ways to do that, to take charge and score by constantly running with the ball. He did that in all the conditions he played in.”

It is no surprise that Root has not only flourished in Asia against spin.

Of all the players who have scored more than 3,000 runs in an ODI against slow bowling alone, the 35-year-old currently averages 73.43 – only Indian great MS Dhoni has a better average.

In fact, Root has averaged over 80 against spin during the eight calendar years of his ODI career, featuring at 202.5 in 2017, 101.25 in 2018 and 206 from his first three matches this year.

These runs have been built steadily, with a distinct lack of risk – of the players in the 3,000 runs against spin club, only Virat Kohli in the last 20 years betters Root’s mis-shot record of 9.2%.