England Test captaincy consumed Joe Root so much so that he wasn’t able to enjoy time with his family and almost felt like a ‘zombie’. Root stepped down as the captain earlier this year following back-to-back series losses to Australia and West Indies.
Also Read: ‘At Least Your Debut Was Better Than Mine’
Root said the job was taking a toll on him and he kept on thinking about events he had no control or had already happened in the past.
“The captaincy was starting to take a toll on me,” Root was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk. “It was getting to the point where I wasn’t really present at home. The limited time I did get to spend with family, which should be enjoyed and treasured, I wasn’t able to do that. I wasn’t really there. I came to realise that that had been the case for a little while.”
He added, “I was there but there were times when I was thinking about something I couldn’t control or something that hadn’t happened previously. You go in on yourself. We would still do what we would normally do as a family but I would not be listening. I just felt like a bit of a zombie almost.”
Also Read: BCCI Announces Adoption of Upgraded Digitalisation for Digital Payment Interface
Root says the impact of the toll became visible in the frustrations on his kids. “I could see it frustrating the kids because I wasn’t properly playing with them or I was talking to Carrie and I would zone out. I could start seeing it have an impact on me as a person. You want to bring your personality to the role, not bring the role to your personality. It was reversing into something slightly unhealthy,” he recalled.
However, Root does at that he loved doing that but he didn’t have the energy or the right outlook to do justice to the responsibility.
“It was a very difficult decision (stepping down) because it is such a fantastic role to get the honour to do and I loved doing it. I was also trying to make the right decision not just for myself but most importantly for what the team required at that point,” he said.
“I didn’t feel like I had the energy or the right outlook on things to be able to do that properly. As hard as it was to give up the captaincy, as soon as I had done it, I did feel so much better for it and have done ever since,” he added.
Root is proud of what England did during his reign as their Test captain.
“It is a period of my career that I will always fondly look back on and think I am very proud of what we achieved as a side and proud of the fact I got to do it for such a long period of time and I will always be grateful for the support I got during that period. I am really looking forward to looking at the game slightly differently,” the 31-year-old said.
“As captain, players find it difficult to come and talk to you and be vulnerable with you and I have always wanted to help and offer insight or advice. But when you are associated with selection or in a position of leadership, guys find it difficult,” he added.
Get the latest Cricket News, Schedule and Cricket Live Scores here
Comments
0 comment