Joe Root had been named the Men's Test Player of the Year for 2021 earlier this year and he finally received the commemorative cap for the title only on Saturday, moments before the second day of the second Test between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge. Captain Ben Stokes presented the cap, casually flipping it to Root in the dressing room after a short speech as the players got ready for Day 2.
“Got a cap here to present to Rooty. Named in the ICC Test XI of the year and obviously, the Test cricketer of the year so, congratulations mate,” Stokes can be heard saying in the video posted by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Root has been in a extraordinary patch of form over the past two years which has seen him become just the second England player to cross 10,000 runs in Test cricket. While he was lagging behind the rest of the ‘Fab 4’, which includes Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson, at the start of 2021, he has now left them behind on a number of counts and is one century away from equalling Kohli and Smith's tally.
{{/usCountry}}Root has been in a extraordinary patch of form over the past two years which has seen him become just the second England player to cross 10,000 runs in Test cricket. While he was lagging behind the rest of the ‘Fab 4’, which includes Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson, at the start of 2021, he has now left them behind on a number of counts and is one century away from equalling Kohli and Smith's tally.
{{/usCountry}}His form has led to many backing him to go past Sachin Tendulkar as the all-time highest run scorer in Test cricket.
"Root has minimum five years left in him, so I think Tendulkar's record is very achievable," former Australia captain Mark Taylor told Sky Sports.
"Root is batting as well as I have ever seen him bat over the last 18 months to two years.
"He is in the prime of his career, so there is 15,000 runs-plus for him if he stays healthy."