Underperforming Joe Root lies at the heart of England's batting woes

Joe Root has carried the burden of the English batting on his shoulders this year. It all started with the Sri Lanka tour where the series was more of a battle between Root and Sri Lanka after he started plundering daddy hundreds for fun. He was the man. He was the leader. He was the batsman. He was the difference.

However, the fairytale finally has come to an end as the realities of the past have started to gain traction. With scores of 42, 40 and 4, Root's underwhelming run at home has returned to haunt him and England yet again. Mind you, when he's going through a rut at home nothing works for him, even a magical year like he is having in 2021. Root's misery at home has been as prolonged as England's batting woes.

As we can see, Root's average of 33.45 after playing 20 Tests in the period is damning for someone who's considered one of the best Test batters in the world. There are seven batsmen from England who have averaged better in the period. Not only that, only once has he converted his fifty into a century out of eight attempts. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Since the start of 2018, 25 batters in world cricket have averaged better than Root's 33.45 in home Tests. While six batsmen are averaging more than 50, as many as nine batters are averaging 40 or more. 

Now, there's no denying the fact that England has one of the toughest conditions to bat in the world. But, it has always been like that and it didn't stop Root earlier from dominating the batting charts. Take a look at how Root has fared in different phases:

Now, as we can see the English skipper was a master of scoring consistently at home. Furthermore, in both the periods mentioned till the end of 2017, the Yorkshire batsman was the best averaging batsman for the country. He was once carrying the English batting across conditions on his broad shoulders with the other batters working well around him. But now that's no longer the case and that has worsened England's batting frailties. 

England are going through a transition phase, and have a plethora of young batters in the line-up, trying to step up from county cricket to top-tier cricket. And that has been one heck of a journey given the daylight gap between the standards at both levels. There is a trio of young players in the middle-order in the form of Zak Crawley (14 Tests), Ollie Pope (19 Tests), and Daniel Lawrence(7 Tests), while the openers Rory Burns (25 Tests) and Dom Sibley (20 Tests) might seem experienced but they are yet to get even 30 Tests under their belt. They are all promising at best, but their average hovering in the 30s gives a clear-cut picture that they are not world-class. At least, not yet.

When Root walked out in the middle on day one of the Edgbaston Test, England were in a decent position at 73 for 2. They had one of their best opening stands in a long time. And the wicket wasn't as spicy as it usually is, certainly far more flatter than the first Test, albeit there was a tinge of movement in the air. New Zealand were even playing their 'B' bowling attack. All that England needed was a good partnership between Root and Burns.

But after a streaky four, Root departed soon, leaving everything on the young middle-order and Burns, throwing away the position of ascendancy when he was expected to play a big knock and propel hosts to a big total. The Three Lions finished with a 300-ish total when it could have been 400 with Root's men in a commanding position. For someone who has played 100 Tests, and is among the premier batters, this ain't that big an expectation? But in England, the higher the expectations from Root, the bigger the disappointment.

Stokes, who has batted like a man possessed in the whites, played a major role as a batter in the 2019 Ashes, away series' in New Zealand and South Africa respectively and then had a memorable outing against West Indies last year. Even Jos Buttler has put in some credible performances at home. 

World cricket is well aware of England's batting frailties. With the India series looming large, the spotlight on Root's rut at home will only get more space in media's coverage. With Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler returning for the showdown series, there will be some respite for Joe Root and England. But it still begs the question, for how long will Root be allowed to get away being the team's weak link at home whilst captaining the side?