Published: Sep 25, 2024, 05:21 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 25, 2024, 05:21 PM (IST)
Ex-England batter Ian Bell believes that his former teammate Joe Root, will go down as the greatest English batter in history even if he is not able to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most Test runs.
Root went past Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara recently to move to the sixth spot in the list of highest run-getters in the longest format.
“He’s played incredibly well in the last 12 months. I don’t think he’s overthinking too much what’s ahead. He’s just sort of living in the moment as we are,” Bell told PTI.
“To think that he can even get close to someone like Sachin, a real great of the game, someone that we’ve all admired growing up, as a hero to not just people and fans in India, but around the world. To think that Joe could get close is an amazing achievement on his behalf. He’ll go down as England’s greatest batsman. There’s no doubt whether he does get to Sachin or not,” Bell added.
With 12,402 runs, the 33-year-old Root is 3,519 runs away from breaking Tendulkar’s record. Some believe that Root will eventually go on to break Tendulkar’s record as well while the others believe that scoring over 3500 Test runs will prove to be too much even for a player like Root.
Bell also talked about England’s Bazball approach that has unlocked talent of various current players.
“From a fan point of view, you have to look at the results. Since Brendon (McCullum) has come into this England side and (Ben) Stokes has took over, the results have been absolutely fantastic. What they’ve managed to do with the talent that they have is to unlock some of that…. Zak Crawley’s, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, they’ve managed to get the best out of them,” Bell said.
“I don’t think you could ask a Crawley or Pope to try and be an Alastair Cook or a Jonathan Trott who played in a different style, but were very successful. It’s important to identify what they’ve got and they’re adapting that as we go on now,” Bell added.
With England not featuring among contenders for World Test Championship (WTC) final in the first 2 editions, Bell believes that winning away would be as important as winning at home in the next cycle.
“I’m sure they’ve got one eye on the next 12 months, which has five Test matches (against) India at home, which will be a huge challenge,” Bell said.
“India are probably the best team in the world at the moment, and then, Australia away. Those 10 Test matches on the road will be hugely important for that group of players and something they’re gearing themselves up for,” Bell added.
“We were the last team to win in India, which was obviously (a) part of the journey to get to No 1 and we won in Australia. For this England side to get to No 1, there’s no doubt, ability and talent-wise, they have that,” Bell concluded.
