'Captaincy sucked the life out of me', reveals Joe Root

Root in action [PC: Twitter]

Captaining a cricket team is never an easy task, especially coming from high-profile nations like India, England, or Australia. Former England Test skipper Joe Root widely regarded as one of the best batters in the modern era was heavily criticised for his leadership skills at the fag end of his captaincy tenure.

Root resigned from his job in April after losing 16 of his last 17 Tests as captain. Speaking on Vaughany and Tuffers Cricket Club podcast, Root revealed how the captaincy affected him and led to him resigning after it started taking a toll on his family.

“The last couple of years, it's sucked the life of me, really. And it did take its toll,” he said. “It was the right decision for the group, first and foremost, but also for me personally, I wasn't myself,"

“It was when I got home from the West Indies tour. I think it had been coming for a long time. I just didn't want to believe it. And I think when you talk about not being present and it getting to a point where I started to notice it and I could see the effect it was having on not just kids, but Carrie my wife as well around me, it just wasn't fair on those guys,"

Batting in the middle was my quiet time: Root

Root has been in phenomenal form since 2021

Root further dwelled into the time he felt peaceful, during a horrendous time captaining the side.

"That was my quiet time. It's only you, you don't have to think about anything other than watching the ball. And the longer I stayed out there, the more peaceful it was. And the less stuff that I had on my mind and the more in control of things you are as well.”

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