Shane Warne Feels Joe Root Can Be 'World's Best Batsman' If Freed From Captaincy

After a terrific one day series against India, England Test skipper Joe Root had a par Test series against the visitors. In the five-match series against the number one ranked Test side, Root could only manage a century and a fifty in the 10 innings. Former Australian spin legend Shane Warne on Thursday opined that that Joe Root should give up the Test captaincy in order to become world's best batsman. Warne said that England team management should seriously consider replacing Joe Root with Jos Buttler as Test captain to allow Root to focus on becoming a terrific batsman. Australia spin great Warne said that the Yorkshire star could dominate the global game with the bat and feels Buttler would make a "very, very good" Test skipper.

Warne, who is promoting his autobiography, said Root is England's best player but would be disappointed with his conversion rate when it came to hundreds.

"He'd love to have more hundreds to be able to be spoken about in the same sentences as Virat Kohli and Steve Smith," Warne said.

"Maybe England could think about their best player having the shackles off, not having the responsibility of captaincy, and give it to someone like Jos Buttler.

"If he (Root) totally 100 percent concentrates on his cricket, his batting and nothing else, then maybe we might see Joe Root become the best batsman in the world. He's got the talent to do it," Warne added.

Warne has worked with Buttler in his role as mentor for Indian Premier League team Rajasthan Royals and is convinced the Lancashire player has credible Test leadership skills.

"I've worked with Jos a bit this year, and I think he's someone who would make an excellent captain," said Warne. "I really enjoyed working with him, I'd like to think I helped him out a little bit."

(With AFP inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

England Cricket Team Joe Root Jos Buttler Shane Warne Cricket