5 reasons why England can be world-beaters in ODI cricket

#2 Joe Root’s consistency

Joe Root has emerged as the most complete batsman for England across formats in the modern era

Career statistics of 3017 runs from 78 ODIs at 45.71 and a strike-rate of 85.71 with 8 hundreds speak of a blossoming career. And a player of Joe Root’s calibre deserves such numbers and the accolades that come with it. If we only focus on the records since the 2015 World Cup, Root has scored 4 centuries and 9 fifties from 23 innings. Only 9 times out of 23 has he scored less than 40 runs in an innings and has been dismissed for a duck only once.

Such staggering stats and that too for a limited sample space exemplify the consistency of England's No. 3 in ODI cricket. Root’s last 10 scores in ODIs have been 9, 30, 85, 89, 61, 93, 65, 11*, 2, and 27. The bulk of the scoring done by England’s prime batsman has eased the pressure and has allowed the middle-order to bat freely, be it in the first innings or while chasing a target.

Since the 2015 World Cup Root has scored 1215 runs from 23 innings at an average 52.82, which is amazing. When you have a No. 3 who is scoring a fifty almost every other match, you are bound to succeed. And that’s exactly what has happened with England, and can happen in the future too.