Joe Root 2.0 — a perfect symmetry between unorthodoxy and consistency
Of all the ways that Joe Root could have sauntered to his 36th Test hundred, against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington last week, you would think that a reverse ramp over the wicketkeeper off a tall fast bowler was fraught with the maximum risk. As the ball sailed over Tom Blundell behind the stumps and trickled into the boundary rope, Root took off his helmet, kissed the Three Lions badge embossed on it, raised his bat and had a hearty laugh with Ben Stokes at the other end.The manner of getting to the century and the visuals thereafter were revealing of a batter who seems to be at complete ease and enjoying his game more than ever before. So much so that even an impending milestone doesn’t deter him from playing a shot that triggered widespread criticism when his execution w...