Joe Root’s captaincy slammed as ‘opposite of excellent leadership’

12/22/2021

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has criticised Joe Root 's leadership, describing the England skipper as "an excellent batter but a poor captain".

Root's captaincy has come under scrutiny in recent years and plenty of questions have been raised over his decision-making during the ongoing Ashes series, including team selection, bowling plans and deciding to bat first at the Gabba.

In his latest column for ESPNcricinfo, Chappell wrote : "What is the opposite definition of excellent leadership? There's a good chance it can be summed up by Joe Root's captaincy.

"Root is an excellent batter but a poor captain.

"It's not that Root's team dislike him – on the contrary – it's just that he has taken so many poor decisions, they must be thinking, 'Oh no, not again.'

"He is not an inspirational captain and this is indicated by the number of times his team work their way into a decent position but can't finish the job.

"This happened again when, where after conceding 425 in Brisbane, England repeated their mistakes in Adelaide to leak 473 for the loss of nine.

"Another sign of Root's inadequacy was the number of times he put an English fielder in a catching position following an uppish shot going to that area.

"A good captain – as Richie Benaud regularly said – is two overs ahead of the game, otherwise he's behind in the match.

"A responsible leader has a team of competitors who want to play for their skipper.

"Root had to find a way to be ahead in the Adelaide Test if England were to surge back into the series.

"Unfortunately, they again let the opportunity slip with some questionable bowling and even more negative tactics.

"The dreaded conclusion; "Oh no not again," is likely to be a regular comment while Root remains in charge."

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