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Lehmann’s comments on excluding ace England batter Root from the list of all-time greats, over his lack of centuries in Australia, have not gone down well with former English International Vaughan.
Joe Root. (AP)
Former Australian all-rounder Darren Lehmann’s comments on excluding ace England batter Joe Root from the list of all-time greats, over his lack of centuries in Australia, have not gone down well with former English international Michael Vaughan.
Root, who has been in scintillating form in recent years in Tests, is closing in on the 13,000 run mark with 35 tons under his belt, but hasn’t managed a triple figure down under, which Lehmann pointed out as a factor hurdling him from being included in the bracket of the greats.
“That’s the only thing stopping Joe Root. He’s a great player, but is he an all-time great? I don’t have him in that realm,” Lehmann said.
Vaughan hit back at the Aussie southpaw over his claim as he held Root’s back by drawing parallels to legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar.
“What a load of nonsense,” Vaughan exclaimed.
“We’re talking about a player that could quite easily – if he stays fit and that back stays strong – surpass Sachin Tendulkar in a few years,” the 50-year-old said.
Vaughan asserted that though bagging a ton in Australia would be a good marker, it wasn’t the be-all and end-all to define batting greatness.
“Just because he’s not got a hundred here in Australia, this isn’t the be-all and end-all,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan further expressed his delight with how Root has been batting in recent times and added tat Lehmann’s comments could come back to bite him when England tour Australia in the upcoming year.
“You’d like to come here, and score runs. But he’ll come next year in the way that he’s playing in this England side now at four – playing the Joe Root way rather than the Bazball way – I’ve got a sneaky feeling that might come back to haunt Darren next year,” Vuaghan said.
“He might get a couple of hundreds next year and the way that England are playing, particularly against this Kookaburra ball, I think it’s going to be a great contest,” the former England batter added.
Root, however, was gracious enough to let the comment slide as he stated, “My job is to score runs, right? To turn up every game and try to do all I can out in the middle. 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. That’s his right,” Root added.
Lehmann clarified his comments stating, “Just to be clear as there are a lot of people who think , that I think Joe root is not a great . He is going to be a great, I know that and a wonderful ambassador for our game but needs and he will probably do this next ashes . Get a hundred in Aus and then no dispute.”
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United Kingdom (UK)
