Joe Root’s record-breaking run in Test cricket may hit a wall if he fails to convert the forthcoming Ashes tour to Australia and face a horrendous challenge similar to India star Virat Kohli before he announced his retirement from the format earlier this year, declared former English off-spinner Monty Panesar.
Root, who vaulted to the second spot on the all-time Test run-scorers charts during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at home, continues to see Australia as the biggest hurdle he hasn’t quite ticked off in his career, just yet. In 27 innings Down Under, Root has recorded 892 runs at a middling 35.68 average with nine half-centuries.
Panesar feels another ordinary display in Australia could trigger the descent of Root from the peak of his batting powers, built on the back of a stupendous Test record since 2020. Root is the only batter to record over 6000 runs in the World Test Championship, averaging 52.86 in 69 matches for a staggering 21 centuries in the last six years.
Clueless Kohli
Panesar equated Root’s potential situation to the one endured by Kohli during a treacherous Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 tour. Despite notching up a hundred in his first innings on tour in Perth, Kohli’s form waned rapidly, finishing up with only 190 runs in nine innings. The former India captain later announced his decision to retire from the format during the IPL 2025 season in May.
“It really depends on how next year goes for him (Root), how the Ashes go, we saw very much with Virat Kohli, right? He went to Australia, and he just didn’t know what to do with that ball outside 4th, 5th stump. I think that kind of led to his decision or a collective decision for him to retire. And yeah, if Joe Root doesn’t have a good Ashes series and it goes really bad for him. Suddenly all it takes one series and you look, it’s a different ball game altogether. England could lose their coach, their captain, if it’s a very bad series, a few jobs could be done. Suddenly pople begin questioning, is he gone past his best? So it’s very important when you go to Australia, doesn’t matter how good you are, you’ve got to perform in Australia,” Panesar told India Today.
Led by skipper Pat Cummins and his fellow pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, Panesar feels the vaunted pace pack will be a crucial examination for England’s leading run-scorer.
“It’s going to be very difficult for him because he’s going to be facing a strong Australian attack, and this is probably one of the strongest bowling attacks we’ve seen. But the form he’s shown, and the runs he’s scoring, he would probably want to score 100. I’m sure there will be one of those Test matches, where the wicket isn’t so bouncy, there’s not so much pace in it possibly at Adelaide or, even in Melbourne, depending on the conditions. Well he’s got a chance, but anything a bit bouncy or quick, I think, it’d be, it’d be a little bit difficult for him,” he added.
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The five-match Ashes tour is slated to begin in Perth on November 21, 2025.
