"Root's phenomenal run-making will be tested when he faces India at home and Australia away" - Ian Chappell
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell reckons that Joe Root's skills as a red-ball batter will be put to the test when he faces India and Australia in the home and away series', respectively. According to Chappell, India and Australia possess the best bowling attacks in Test cricket at present.
Root is the leading run-getter in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). The 33-year-old has amassed 5,287 runs in 60 WTC matches at an average of 52.87, with 17 hundreds and 20 fifties. He recently became England's highest run-getter in Test cricket, surpassing Alastair Cook.
In his column for ESPNcricinfo, Chappell opined that the in-form England batter has two major challenges coming up. Referring to the Test series against India and Australia, he wrote:
"Root's phenomenal run-making will again be tested when first he faces India at home and then Australia away. In those two series Root will be facing the best attacks in Test cricket, and his technique against both pace and spin will again be fully scrutinised.
"Those are difficult challenges that Root and England will face in the future. Currently they're desperately involved in a bid to win after Pakistan levelled their three-game series with a spin-revolution victory against a clueless England," the 81-year-old former Aussie batter added.
India will play five Tests in England from June 20 to August 4. Australia and England will then clash in the 2025-26 Ashes from November 21 to January 8.
"He needs to re-assess the extra bounce" - Chappell on Root not having a Test ton in Australia
While Root has an impressive Test record in most nations, he is yet to score a hundred in Australia in the format. In 27 Test innings in Australia, the former England captain has scored 892 runs at an average of 35.68, with nine half-centuries to his credit.
The right-handed batter has been dismissed caught behind a number of times in Test matches in Australia. Chappell reckons that this is an area of his game that Root will have to re-assess heading into the Ashes. He wrote in his column:
"In Australia, the four main bowlers have dismissed Root a number of times and this could be pointed to as a weakness. Nevertheless there's an easy answer: if you're going to be dismissed, it's preferable to get out to a good bowler.
"The more worrying Root statistic in Australia is the number of times he's been caught behind. Keepers have had a bonanza as ten times they've clasped Root's edges in just 27 innings. While he could counter with "you've got to be good enough to nick 'em", it does suggest he needs to re-assess the extra bounce Australian pitches provide," Chappell concluded.
Root is fifth on the list of all-time leading run-getters in Test cricket. In 148 matches, he has amassed 12,716 runs at an average of 51.27, with 35 hundreds and 64 half-centuries.