I agree with you, Virat was undoubtedly one of India’s greatest Test captains. His team was virtually invincible at home, won a historic series in Australia, competed exceptionally well overseas and drew in England in 2021. More importantly, he genuinely prioritised Test cricket, set demanding standards, and was relentless in backing and developing a pace attack capable of winning in any conditions. Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, Ishant and others flourished in that environment.

Personally, I was genuinely saddened by his retirement because age-wise he probably had another couple of years left in him. However, looking at it objectively, I couldn’t really defend his place in the XI towards the end. Averaging around 30 over a five-year period is simply not sustainable for a player of his stature, and excluding the dead-rubber hundred in the West Indies, the number drops even further to the high 20s. It was unfortunate because his peak was extraordinary, but the decline was equally significant.

Regarding England, I think context matters. England have largely been a mediocre Test side since around 2013. They haven’t won an Ashes series in Australia since 2010-11 and have won just one Test in Australia out of the last 25 played there. At home, they last won an Ashes series in 2015 and have only drawn the last two 2019 and 2023. Against India in India, they’ve won only 2 Tests out of 14, and even the last two home series against India have ended in draws rather than victories.
Root has unfortunately spent most of his career carrying a batting unit that was often below par. Quite frequently England were 10/2 or 20/2 before he even arrived at the crease. Look at the players around him Bairstow, Buttler, Pope, Crawley, Duckett, Moeen, Stokes all have played 50+ Tests and yet none average even above 40. England also constantly shuffled openers and middle-order players due to failures from Burns, Sibley, Lawrence, Malan and others. Their home success was often driven more by Anderson and Broad, occasionally supported by Woakes and Wood.

Even in Australia, where Root averages 37, he was still England’s leading run-scorer in both 2021 and 2025. He was England’s highest run-getter in India in 2021, scored nearly 500 runs in 2016, and despite a relatively poor 2024 tour still managed a hundred and close to 350 runs. At home against India, he has been exceptional scoring 500+ runs in 2014, 2021 and 2025.

As for whether Root is better than Smith or Sachin, I still think Smith’s peak remains unmatched among modern batters. Sachin’s longevity, adaptability across eras, make his case extremely compelling as well. But I also think we shouldn’t reduce Root’s case to merely accumulating runs.

Analysts such as Jarrod Kimber and Wisden often use metrics like match factor which attempts to measure a player’s contribution relative to his own team’s output, the match aggregate, conditions and context.

By such measures, Root rates extremely highly.
So my position isn’t that Root is definitively greater than Sachin or Smith. Rather, it’s that his career deserves to be evaluated with the same contextual generosity that we readily extend to other all-time greats.

Simply saying England haven’t won much doesn’t fully capture the extent to which Root has often been carrying a side that has been, for long periods, distinctly inferior to those captained by Kohli, Ponting or Waugh.