The highs and lows of Root's England Test captaincy

Joe Root has captained England as often as any other man in the history of Test cricket.

Root has recorded more wins as skipper than any of his compatriots (27) but also suffered more defeats (26) and has not yet overseen victory in an Ashes series.

He scored more runs in a calendar year in 2021 than any Englishman ever, yet England lost a record-equalling number of Tests. The paradoxes go on.

After the Yorkshireman announced on Good Friday he was stepping down from the England Test captaincy, we look back at some of the highs and lows...

Root enjoyed instant success as skipper, both personally and results-wise, after succeeding Sir Alastair Cook in the wake of a drubbing in India. A score of 190 on his captaincy debut - the first Test against South Africa at Lord's in the summer of 2017 - was the highest of six centuries scored by England captains in their first match in the job. Although he remarked in trademark dry style after a heavy second Test defeat - and a spat with predecessor-turned-pundit Michael Vaughan - that his honeymoon period had been short-lived, back-to-back wins in the remaining Tests gave England a 3-1 series victory. Root finished with 461 runs - 131 more than his nearest challenger on either side - at an average of 57.62. So far, so excellent.

The optimism of Root's first summer in charge had been obliterated by a one-sided Ashes tour, defeat in New Zealand and failure to put away Pakistan at home in the early summer schedule. So when Virat Kohli and his top-ranked India side fetched up for a five-Test series in 2018, determined to put up a better show than their recent predecessors had managed in English conditions, home expectations were not exactly high. Despite Kohli's individual brilliance,