Until December 2019, Kohli was the player with the most Test centuries among active players, after which Root was not even in the top five. ANd int the next four years to this, Joe Root has scored 17 centuries, rising into the top among active players. On the other hand, Virat Kohli managed to score just two centuries in this time period.
Root has changed in the last four years to become the best in Tests. He leaves behind not only Kohli but also modern-day greats like Australia's Steve Smith and New Zealand's Kane Williamson.
1. Root focuses on only one format
Joe Root made his Test debut on 13 December 2012 against India. He also made his ODI and T20 debuts within a month of each other. Root played in all three formats till 2018, but after May 2019, the management removed him from T20. 44 44 44 Root also did not get many chances in ODIs, but never missed a Test. England have played 69 Tests since 2019, Root has played in 68 of them, but could not play a single match due to injury. In these six years, Root has only played 50 ODIs and four T20s. During this period, England have played 163 limited-overs matches.
Meanwhile, Virat has focused on all three formats since his debut. India have played 47 Tests since 2019, with Virat playing 37 of them, the most in the team. India have played 105 ODIs so far, with Virat playing 79, the most in the team. He has also played 60 of India's 125 T20 matches. Suryakumar Yadav, who only played T20 cricket, could only play 71 matches during this period.
The difference is clear. Root plays only one format, so he can fully focus on scoring runs and centuries in Tests. Virat, on the other hand, contributed to the team in all three formats. Kohli is now retired from T20 cricket and has played fewer ODI matches, so this is the perfect opportunity for him to perform to his full potential in Tests.
2. England plays more Tests per year than India
Among the 12 Test eligible nations, England has played the most matches. The team has played 10 Tests this year but will have to play 7 more Tests in 2024, making the total 17 Tests. Since 2019, England has played 69 Tests and Australia 49 Tests. India, on the other hand, has only been able to play 47 Tests.
Root, 33, has played more Tests, 145 matches in his 11-year career. This has also led to more opportunities to score points in Tests. Virat, 35, on the other hand, has only been able to play 113 Tests in his 13-year career. England plays between 12 and 18 Tests every year, whereas India plays only between 8 and 12 Tests. While the numbers have certainly increased in recent years, England is still a long way from catching up.
3. Badgeball pitches help Root
In May 2022, New Zealander Brendon McCullum was appointed coach of the England Test team. After Root relinquished the captaincy, Ben Stokes became the captain of the England team. Since then, England has adopted an aggressive batting approach, but the team has also changed their home pitch to achieve this. Badgeball was also called in England. Until 2022, pitches in England had grass on them, which helped fast bowlers and made it difficult to score runs due to the swing.
After the introduction of the badge ball, all pitches in England became flat, making it easy to score runs but very difficult to take wickets. Root took advantage of this and scored seven centuries in 18 Tests at home but only two centuries in 10 Tests overseas. After the badge ball, Root scored two centuries in every fifth Test in England. Previously, he needed to play eight Tests to score a double century.
Meanwhile, India has already started changing their pitchers from the England series in February 2021. In the first match, it was easy to hit for the first two or three days, but the spin got better in the last two days. However, in the last four years, the ball started spinning from the first day of the match, and it was difficult to score runs. This is why not only Virat but batsmen all over the world are eager to score in India.
In the last three years, Virat has only managed to score one century at home. During this period, the remaining 87 players could score only 19 centuries in a total of 14 Tests. Again, foreign players could score only six centuries. From 2011 to 2021, India scored 92 centuries in 48 Tests. This means that while earlier around four centuries were scored in every other Test, now there are only three centuries in every second Test. But one thing is certain - Virat has managed to score just one century overseas in the last three years.
Root has scored 21 centuries in England and nine in India, Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand. However, he could not score a century in Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan or the United Arab Emirates. Virat, on the other hand, has scored a century in every country he has played cricket for, except Bangladesh. He has scored six centuries in Australia and five centuries in England, South Africa and New Zealand. This means that it will be difficult for Root to reach 40 Test centuries if he does not get a home pitch.
4. Virat has been out of form for a long time
Virat Kohli scored his 27th Test century against Bangladesh on 23 November 2019. He scored many runs in 2019 but his form has been off since 2020. Centuries stopped coming in all three formats and although Virat scored runs reliably in ODIs and T20s, he also failed to deliver runs in Tests.
In a span of three years and three months, Virat could only score 993 runs in 22 Tests at an average of 26.13. He got 6/50, meaning that Virat was clearly in good form. Not only was it difficult to score runs in India, but Virat also struggled abroad. In March 2023, he scored the 28th century of his Test career against Australia and his first century from here against the West Indies.
Virat started scoring points and centuries in all three formats from September 2022. Over the next six months, India will play five Tests at home and five in Australia. Kohli is unlikely to get such a golden opportunity to reach peak form as he has scored 20 centuries at both venues.
Root has had a habit of scoring centuries in Tests when Virat was out of form. Since December 2019, he has scored more than 5000 runs in 57 Tests. These include 17 centuries and 19 fifties. His average is also approaching 55, the highest among active players who have completed 20 or more Tests.
Root reaches the top of the Fab-4 Test statistics
On 31 August 2014, New Zealand legend Martin Crowe identified the top four players and named them the Fab-4. They included Joe Root and Virat Kohli along with Kane Williamson of New Zealand and Steve Smith of Australia. Crowe said at the time that all four would be the best batsmen in world cricket over the next decade and captain their respective teams. And it happened.
Fab-4 No one has better ODI and T20 statistics than Virat. But in Tests, sometimes it was Smith, sometimes Virat, sometimes Williamson and now Root who took the lead. Till December 2019, Virat had the most Test centuries with 27. Since then, Smith has had 26 centuries, Williamson 21 and Root just 17.
In the last four years, Smith has only managed to score six Test centuries and Virat two, while Williamson has scored 11 centuries and Root 17 during this period.As a result, Root has outdone not only Virat in Tests but also Smith and Williamson.However, no one has proven to be a better Test captain than Virat.
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