Warner Takes Jibe At Root's Numbers In Australia: Decoding His Test Stats Down Under

Root vs Australia [Source: AFP Photo]

All the media coverage at the moment is regarding the India vs England Test series, but a few months later, another riveting battle will begin between two fierce and oldest cricketing rivals - England and Australia, Down Under. The two sides despise each other, and even with a few months left for the series, the war of words have began.

The first knockout blow was landed by the former opener, David Warner, as he went after England's best batter, Joe Root, and tried to get under his skin. Warner took a subtle dig by mentioning that Root has zero hundreds in Australia, and Josh Hazlewood has his numbers in Tests.

"The big anchor there is Rooty [England batter Joe Root], who is yet to score a hundred in Australia," Warner told BBC Sport.

"Josh Hazlewood tends to have his number quite a lot. He will have to take the surfboard off his front leg."

But, how true are Warner's verdict on Root?. Does the England batter really struggle in Australia? Here's his track record, Down Under.

Joe Root's Test record in Australia

(Root stats in Australia)

In a way, Warner is not completely wrong, as despite playing 14 Tests in Australia, Root is yet to score a single century. In the last decade, Australian pitches have slowed down, and yet, the England batter has struggled with an average of 35.

However, he hasn't been a complete failure in Australia. England's number 4 has nine fifties Down Under, but he has been unable to convert them into daddy hundreds. With this statement justified to some extend, we come to the second one - his struggles against Hazlewood.

Root vs Hazlewood in Tests

(Root vs Hazlewood)

David Warner has perhaps got the second statement right, as Root tends to struggle against Josh Hazlewood in red-ball cricket. As the table suggests, he has scored 314 runs, but has been dismissed 10 times by the Aussie, and Root only averages a mere 31 against him. Clearly, Hazlewood will once again be the key player, as every time the English batter will walk in to bat, the ball will be given to the big Aussie bowler.

Why Root struggles against Hazlewood?

• Root has one clear weakness in Test cricket - the ball coming into his body, and Hazlewood is a master of it. As witnessed in the Oval Test between India, and England, Root sometimes fails to read the ball which nips back in, and gets trapped lbw.
• This is how Hazlewood has exploited his weakness in Test cricket, and has dismissed him the majority of the time. He will once again try, and knock Root over with similar lines, and lengths in the upcoming Ashes tour.

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