Joe Root praises senior players as England captain breaks Michael Vaughan record

Root went past Vaughan as the Englishman to have won the most Tests as captain, going to the landmark in style with his 23rd century setting up an emphatic victory over India at Headingley

Ruthless England put finishing touches to near-perfect Test performance

England v India, player ratings: Joe Root leads the way as Indian batsmen struggle...

Joe Root paid tribute to the impact of his senior players after going past Michael Vaughan as the England captain to have won the most games as captain.

The comprehensive victory over India – by an innings and 76 runs – was founded on the work of his seam attack, led by James Anderson on the first morning, as well as his own remarkable returns with the bat. Root’s century on the second day at Headingley was his sixth of 2021, bringing him level with Vaughan and Denis Compton for the most hundreds by an Englishman in a calendar year.

Despite a fightback from Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara on the third afternoon, Ollie Robinson dismissed both on Saturday morning as the tourists lost eight wickets before lunch to end the contest and bring the series level, just 12 days on from the debacle at Lord’s that saw England surrender a strong position to lose the second Test.

The win was Root’s 27th in charge, having taken over in 2017. This was his 55th match as skipper – four more than fellow Yorkshireman Vaughan led in.

"I’m living my boyhood dream, captaining England," he said. "Something I dreamed of doing from being really small. Great group of players, who are very talented and dedicated to becoming better all the time. As frustrating as the last period has been for us, we have had to deal with some difficulties, but we’ve shown huge character to be able to put in a performance like that on the back of the way last week turned out.

^{Joe Root has now overtaken Michael Vaughan as the England player to have won the most games as captain}

"I couldn’t be more proud, proud to have gone past Michael. But you don’t do that on your own as a captain, it’s down to the group of players and the coaching staff as well. It’s all one big thing. You’re the one making the decisions, but they are the ones going out and time and time again putting in performances. And really proud of the way they have done that this week."

He praised Anderson and Stuart Broad, both of whom have been central figures under his leadership, taking 316 wickets between them.

"I feel hugely privileged to have had Jimmy and Stuart throughout my tenure as captain," he reflected. "To have those players at my disposal has been exceptional. Being a bit cheeky, you look at both of their records and I think they’ve probably performed best under my leadership, so I’m going to take a little bit of credit for how good they’ve been in recent times as well, making them bowl a little bit fuller and creating a few more chances. It has been great to get the most out of them and long may that continue.”

He added that he wouldn’t "put a time limit" on his shelf life in the role, instead insisting that he would continue for as long as he is "enjoying it and I feel like I am the right person to take this team forward".

This has been a fraught period for any international captain, given the complications of the pandemic and the bio-secure conditions in which teams have learned to live, but Root has somehow managed to balance the off-field pressures with a special run of form. He is just 390 behind Mohammad Yousuf, who holds the record – set in 2006 – for the most runs by a Test player in a single year.

As captain, Root is currently without Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Ben Stokes, while there is uncertainty around the prospect of an Ashes series on the winter horizon. It is hoped, though, that Woakes and Wood might return to action before the summer is out. Woakes featured for Warwickshire in the T20 Blast quarter-final on Friday, with Wood bowling on the outfield at Headingley long after Craig Overton had taken the final wicket on Saturday, a result that earns England’s bowlers an extra day-off, having won inside four days.

^{Joe Root praised Jimmy Anderson as having a large role in his captaincy success}

"It’s been a very challenging period throughout my tenure as captain," Root acknowledged. "There has been a lot to contend with, a lot around the games, not necessarily all full focus has been on the field. But that’s part and parcel of the job.

"We have got a great group with strong character than have been able to bounce back after a difficult defeat. When you have got players to work with who are like that it does make things easier. I have been blessed with some wonderful senior players to lean on and a brilliant coaching staff as well.

"I have always known what we’re capable of doing, and everyone in this group has shown at times that they’re good enough to deliver performances like that collectively. One thing we need to keep getting better at is being consistent and doing it time and time again. That is a great template for us to work from. As a batting group, we made that big first innings score. As a bowling group, we were relentless in the areas that we bowled.

"That’s the sort of thing that over time we need to keep doing more and more of, and just getting better at making those big partnerships – in particular with the bat – that just get you in really strong positions.

"Now we’ve done once this series, there is no reason why we can’t take this forward and say: 'You know what, we’ve shown that we can stand up to these guys in our own way and our own manner as a side and really put them back under pressure.' We’ve got a great opportunity now with two games to go to do just that."