ENG vs NZ 2022: Captaincy took a bad toll on my health – Joe Root

England’s talisman Joe Root admitted that captaincy took a bad toll on his health. While Root excelled as a batter for his team, his record as captain wasn’t great. The Three Lions had lost 11 of their last 21 Test matches under Root and thus he decided to relinquish his leadership duties before the series against New Zealand.

In fact, Root scored 1708 runs in 2021 in 29 innings, including four fifties and six centuries at an average of 61 but he still could not lead his team to victories.

England suffered a 3-1 loss against India and then they were blown away in the Ashes by 4-0. Furthermore, they lost the three-match series against West Indies by 1-0.

Meanwhile, Root was at his sensational best in the first Test match against New Zealand at the Mecca of Cricket, Lord’s. The linchpin scored an unbeaten knock of 115 runs in the fourth innings to help his team chase down the target with five wickets to spare.

Root also completed 10,000 Test runs in his glorious career and this was his ninth hundred since 2020. Thus, a huge weight of captaincy has been lifted off Root’s shoulder and he played with no pressure at all.

“It had become a very unhealthy relationship to be honest, the captaincy and me. It started to really take a bad toll on my own personal health. I couldn’t leave it at the ground any more, it was coming home. It wasn’t fair on my family, on people close to me, and it wasn’t fair on myself either,” said Root after England’s five-wicket victory at Lord’s on Sunday (June 5).

“I had thrown everything at it and I was determined to help turn this team around but I realised over that time at home that it would have to be in a different way. I’m very excited to do that now and to do everything I can to help Ben [Stokes] really turn this team around and make this team the force it should and can be.

“I obviously tried as much as I could, but I think I was unaware of how much it was grabbing hold of me. I just needed to make the decision, and I knew it was the right thing to do. I felt like a big weight had been lifted and I immediately felt a lot better. As hard as it was, obviously it’s been a huge privilege and something that I’m extremely proud to have done, but it’s time for a new phase in my career. And it’s one that I’m very much looking forward to, seeing one of my best mates now take this team forward and start in a way that he has,” he added.

England hasn’t been at their best in Test cricket in the recent past but this five-wicket win over the ICC Test Championship winners will do them a world of good. The second Test match will take place at Trent Bridge, Nottingham from June 10.