NEW DELHI: Even if Joe Root is unable to surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s incredible record of 15,921 runs, he will be remembered as England‘s greatest batsman in Test cricket, according to his former teammate Ian Bell.
Recently, Root surpassed the legendary Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka to take sixth place on the list of the top run scorers in the longest format.
“He’s played incredibly well in the last 12 months.I don’t think he’s overthinking too much what’s ahead. He’s just sort of living in the moment as we are,” Bell told PTI in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of Legends League Cricket in Jodhpur.
“To think that he can even get close to someone like Sachin, a real great of the game, someone that we’ve all admired growing up, as a hero to not just people and fans in India, but around the world.
“To think that Joe could get close is an amazing achievement on his behalf. He’ll go down as England’s greatest batsman. There’s no doubt whether he does get to Sachin or not,” said the 42-year-old who played as many as 118 Tests for England.
The 33-year-old Root is 3,519 runs short of breaking Tendulkar’s record with 12,402 runs.
Bazball has unlocked talent of current players
Bell believes that the much-discussed Bazball method in England has awakened the brilliance of the present players.
“From a fan point of view, you have to look at the results. Since Brendon (McCullum) has come into this England side and (Ben) Stokes has took over, the results have been absolutely fantastic.
“What they’ve managed to do with the talent that they have is to unlock some of that…. Zak Crawley’s, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, they’ve managed to get the best out of them.
“I don’t think you could ask a Crawley or Pope to try and be an Alastair Cook or a Jonathan Trott who played in a different style, but were very successful. It’s important to identify what they’ve got and they’re adapting that as we go on now.”
Bell stated that in the upcoming cycle, winning away will be just as crucial as winning at home, given that England was not a contender for the World Test Championship final in the first two editions.
“I’m sure they’ve got one eye on the next 12 months, which has five Test matches (against) India at home, which will be a huge challenge,” he said.
“India are probably the best team in the world at the moment, and then, Australia away. Those 10 Test matches on the road will be hugely important for that group of players and something they’re gearing themselves up for.
“We were the last team to win in India, which was obviously (a) part of the journey to get to No 1 and we won in Australia. For this England side to get to No 1, there’s no doubt, ability and talent-wise, they have that,” he said.
He also focused on consistency demonstrated by the Indian squad which has won 17 series in a row at home and its last two series in Australia.
“That’s what we’ve seen with India at the moment. They’ve managed to be able to win away from home as much as anyone and that’s the reason why they are the No 1 team in the world at the moment.”
Next generation of England players growing up with big T20 diet
Bell concurred, but one could counter that England’s white-ball revolution has also resulted in players’ Test batting averages falling, with the exception of Root.
“You could definitely have that argument. The next generation of players are growing up with a big diet of T20 cricket in early age and have a look at cricket in England at the moment, there’s a lot of short format cricket in the early age group,” he said.
Bell, who is renowned for his entertaining cover drives, believes that Virat Kohli outperforms his competitors in his favorite shot.
“It’s very hard to look past Virat Kohli, that is for sure. Not just his cover drive, but the way he plays, his desire for batting, his desire actually in competition and how he goes about his cricket.
“When he plays his cover drive, whatever format of the game, it’s a good one to watch. You know, my kids who love cricket, I certainly get them watching as much cricket from Virat Kohli as possible,” he said.
Bell stated that with James Anderson and Stuart Broad’s retirement, players like Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts have enormous shoes to fill.
“It’s very difficult for any players to come in and emulate straight away what Broad-Anderson have done for England for such a long time,” he said.
“It’s probably very similar to when (Shane) Warne and (Glenn) McGrath finished at the same time for Australia. It took a little bit of time for Australia to adapt and adjust.
“It’s unfair for anyone who’s to follow in those shoes to be seen in the same way. Hopefully people don’t get too hard on them too much,” he added.
