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Darren Lehmann says Joe Root has to score a century in Australia to attain the same level as that of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson.
Joe Root has been tipped to break Sachin Tendulkar’s all- time record of most Test runs. (PTI Photo)
Joe Root has responded after Darren Lehmann raised eyebrows with claims that the England batter isn’t an “all-time great”. Former Australia cricketer and head coach Lehmann said Root needs to score a century on Australian soil to match the level of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith or Kane Williamson.
“He is a rung below for that reason. They’ve made runs all over the world in difficult conditions against different oppositions, and that’s the only thing stopping Joe Root. I think he’s a great player, but is he an all-time great? I don’t have him in that realm,” Lehmann said on ABC Sports.
Root, the world’s top-ranked Test batter, will be back in action during England’s New Zealand that gets underway from November 28. Since the last Ashes tour, the top-order batter has smashed as many as 12 centuries and 11 fifties in the red-ball format.
Lehmann, however, wants Root to prove his calibre in Australian conditions.
“I think you’ve got to make hundreds all around the world. Smith does, Williamson has, Kohli has, (Rohit) Sharma has – I mean they’re world-class players,” Lehmann added.
Root though is unfazed by the criticism.
Responding to Lehmann’s comments, the 33-year-old said, “My job is to score runs, right? His job is to give his opinion and talk on the radio. I’ll do my job and he can do his job. He’s completely entitled to say what he wants. I’ve not spoken to him for a while but, like I said, he’s got a job to do. That’s his right”, as per the Independent.
At present, Root has more Test runs and hundreds than the fellow members of “Big Four” that also comprises Kohli, Smith and Williamson. He has donned the whites for England in 149 matches and has aggregated 12,754 runs.
He has scored 35 tons and 64 half-centuries in Tests while maintaining an average of over 50. Root will look to continue his sublime form on the New Zealand tour.
The winner of the Test series will lift the newly minted Crowe-Thorpe Trophy– which has been crafted with wood taken from the bats of Martin Crowe and Graham Thorpe.
Crowe died of cancer in 2016 while Thorpe died by suicide after a long battle with depression in August this year.
