Former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt hailed England batter Joe Root after he slammed a terrific century in the second Test against West Indies. He lauded the batter for prioritizing the longest format of the game and playing in the domestic circuit as well despite being the premier batter.
England batter Joe Root arguably is one of the best Test batters to have played the game of cricket. In the English conditions, which are tough to bat, the batter has been sensational and is amongst the best players from the United Kingdom to have played the game.
Joe Root has been the consistent batter for England in the longest format of the game and his incredible run continued in the ongoing Test series against West Indies. The batter racked up a sensational century in the second game which took place at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
Joe Root slammed his 32nd Test ton and ended with an innings of 122 runs off 178 balls. He also slammed 10 fours during his knock and is just one ton away from equalling Alastair Cook‘s record of most centuries for the team in the longest format of the game.
Salman Butt hailed Joe Root for his work ethic and highlighted that his game is built on a complete development platform. He stressed how the England batter plays County cricket when he is free and the reason behind that is he prioritises Test cricket. Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, he explained:
“They play a lot of cricket and prioritize Test cricket. So their game is built on a complete development platform. And a complete development platform is long cricket. They play first-class cricket, they play county cricket whenever they are free. And they play Test cricket as well. They play a series of 5 Tests. Whether they go to Australia or India. They play test cricket with other countries as well.
“So according to their priorities, this is right. This is a normal thing that you see in Joe Root or Alistair Cook. Or you see Jimmy Anderson. So you can guess the priority that is in test cricket for them. And they leave IPL, Australian players also leave that for Ashes as well. So they know that whatever they think is number one, they prioritize it.”
The platform on which they are built is of long cricket – Salman Butt
Salman Butt further talked about how Virat Kohli and Joe Root made a strong comeback after facing a dip in their careers. While calling the England batter an outstanding cricketer, highlighted that he is consistent and is more disciplined. He compared the work ethic of Root with cricket in Pakistan and pointed out the core of cricket is getting weak. He explained:
“And because of that, their cricketing is excellent as well. And there is fluctuation in every career. Up and down. For 2-3 years, Virat Kohli was not able to score a 100. He stopped scoring 100s. He started again. Similarly, Joe Root’s career also had a dip. But since he recovered, he is scoring 100s again. So they are outstanding cricketers. But at the end of the day, what you see is that they are humans. And yes, they are exceptional human beings.
“They are more consistent. They are more disciplined. There is more application in their technique. And that is why there is a difference in their output as well. I feel that they are outstanding cricketers. The platform on which they are built is of long cricket. And that is why there is a difference between us and them. Our platform is very small, T20. And the core of our cricket is getting weak.”