root: Blame The Selectors For Root Quitting: Vengsarkar | Pune News

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Pune: Joe Root is the latest high-profile captain who has stepped down as Test leader but will continue to play in the multi-day format. Virat Kohli had done that after a series defeat in South Africa earlier this year. In Kohli’s case, he had relinquished T20 captaincy and an ODI captaincy was taken away from him. “Blame England selectors for this,” said former India captain and chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar about Root’s decision. “They have taken some baffling decisions. They are blindly rotating the players and are not flexible enough,” he told TOI. The case in point is the back to back Chennai Tests last year. They had won the first Test but still rested James Anderson, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler for the next. Vengsarkar said England’s batting lineup is not stable at all and selectors continue to pick ordinary players without allowing decent players to settle down. “They don’t have an attack to take 20 wickets consistently and they are not putting runs on the board when it matters,” added Vengsarkar. Generally speaking, playing multiple formats and captaining your team is a high-pressure job which takes a toll. “Still, it’s not easy to quit captaincy because you are used to calling the shots. It’s not easy for Test captains to play under someone else just as a player,” said Vengsarkar. However, 31-year-old Root has never ever captained England in both ODIs and T20s despite playing 184 internationals of limited-overs cricket. But he has largely played under Eoin Morgan whose Test career ended in 2012 after just 16 Tests. So, Root will play under a new person in Tests.Though it appears that Root’s Test captaincy has come to an abrupt end, expecting more would have been too optimistic.Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has always maintained that four-five years of captaincy takes a lot out of a player. Root had had his share with 64 Tests at the helm in six years. Only six players have more Tests under their belt as captains in the history of Test cricket. With drawn Test matches a rarity, Root has a topsy-turvy ride as captain, winning 27 and losing 26 Tests with just 11 draws. “Away series defeats are always hard on captains and their confidence,” said Vengsarkar. Root has lost the recent series in India, Australia and West Indies.

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