"There are no areas where you can say 'bowl there at him'" - Dinesh Karthik on Joe Root
Veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has been in awe of England Test captain Joe Root's batting prowess.
Root has been in scintillating form in 2021, which has led to him capturing the top spot in the Test batting rankings today. The 30-year old remains miles ahead of other batters from both sides in the ongoing Test series against India.
Root has already accumulated 507 runs in three Tests at an average of 126.75, with three centuries.
Dinesh Karthik said Joe Root was tactically flawless, striking at 70.75, well ahead of his Indian counterparts. The 36-year old also couldn't point to any technical vulnerabilities in Root's game for bowlers to exploit.
Karthik said, as quoted by Sky Sports:
"If you look at it tactically, there are not many errors Root is making. Throughout this series, good white-ball batters - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Jonny Bairstow - have been batting with a strike rate of 50, max 55. Root has batted at 70, 75."
"He is at the peak of his batting prowess and there is no technical vulnerability per se. There may be certain phases where he could have played better but there are no areas where you can say 'bowl there at him.'
"He may get a great ball and a couple of low scores but in terms of saying, 'he is technically weak in that area', I don't think there is much with Root."
He is playing at most of the balls while others are leaving: Dinesh Karthik
Karthik has no doubts about Root being the best batter in the world on current form and believes doing it in England is commendable.
The Tamil Nadu-born cricketer spoke of the Yorkshire batter's awareness of his scoring areas and his proficiency against every type of bowling.
"He is the best batsman in the world in terms of the way he is batting right now - he doesn't even leave many balls. England is probably the toughest place to bat and a lot of players focus on leaving the ball but he is playing at most of the balls others are leaving.
"It shows he is confident, knows his scoring areas and sticks to it. He is all all-round player - he plays spin well as we saw in the winter in Sri Lanka and India. And the pace at which he plays? Phenomenal."
With 1398 runs in 12 Tests this year, Joe Root is within touching distance of becoming the highest Test run-getter in a calendar year. Pakistan's Mohammed Yousuf currently holds the record with 1788 runs, having achieved it in 2006.