It was the right thing to do - to step back: Joe Root on stepping down as England captain

London [UK], December 24 : London [UK], December 24 : England batter Joe Root said that he has no regrets over stepping down as skipper and added that he "gave everything" as captain of the national team.
Root stepped down after five years as England captain in April after succeeding Alastair Cook. As England's men's Test captain, he finished with the most games (67) and victories (27). But he quit after England lost a 4-0 series in Australia and had only won one of their previous 17 Test matches.
"We weren't performing. We weren't delivering what I thought we were capable of doing. And on a personal point of view, it had a massive impact on me away from cricket as well," Root told Skysports.
Root said he does not regret his decision and added that he "gave everything" as captain of the national team.
"For a number of reasons, it was the right thing to do - to step back. It needs someone to throw absolutely everything at it. As soon as I made that decision, it was quite clear that it was the right one, and I've not looked back. I gave everything to that role and threw everything at it. I am really proud of the way I went about that," he further added.
Root describes playing under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, who have a distinctive attacking style of Test cricket, as being "refreshing." The pair followed up a brilliant summer by completing a historic series whitewash in Pakistan this week. They won six of their seven Test matches played at home.
"It's an interesting one! Whatever you want to call it, it's been great fun to play, and I think it must be quite difficult to play against - knowing what score to set," Root said.
"It felt like we can score six, seven runs an over on occasions, and when that's the case you feel like anything is possible. You can chase anything down and even in a game that looks like it could end up being a draw, when you can score 200 plus in a session, it doesn't feel like that's really a result option anymore," said the England batter.
"I think Brendon's got a very aggressive approach to how to play the game, I think Ben is even more aggressive! It is exciting. I think one thing that gets overlooked is that there have been moments where we've recognised important play and had to absorb some pressure, and even though they might just be for four, five, six overs, they are a really important five, six overs where previously you might lose two wickets and the game is thrown massively in favour of the opposition.
"Everyone will see the amount of boundaries that we've been scoring, or how quickly we have gone on and taken the positive option more frequently, but I think just as importantly there has been a case of how we have recognised those moments, we've absorbed it and have counted when we needed to," he further added.
The first Test against South Africa at Lord's in 2017 was Root's debut as Test captain, and he struck 190 on the day. One of the major highlights of their tenure as leaders occurred later in 2018 when they defeated India 4-1 at home. In 2020, a 3-1 victory in South Africa was another highlight.
However, among Root's low points were two 4-0 Ashes series losses in Australia. As captain, he was unable to capture the Ashes because the 2019 home series was drawn.
Earlier on Friday, Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Rajasthan Royals acquired Joe Root's services for the next IPL season. Root played a vital role in England's runner-up finish in the 2016 T20 World Cup, smashing 249 runs at an average of 49.8 and striking at 146.47.