The boxing day test in Melbourne was nothing different from the perspective of England. They were as miserable as they have been in Australia for quite some time, as they were all the year, bar Joe Root.
Yet, an innings defeat within only 7 sessions is not what anyone expected.
As the captain of the team, nothing went well for Joe Root, except for individual good form.
He once again was a lonesome warrior and saw his effort go in vain. An innings defeat and at the same time, losing the series becomes nothing but salt in the wound.
Still, Joe Root could find some solace on a personal level by achieving two personal milestones, which also didn’t happen. He missed one by 50 runs and the other by 80, making things more excruciating for him.
He ended the 1st innings at MCG with a half-century, getting dismissed right after that as once again he missed his opportunity to score a ton in Australia, his first one to be precise.
Instead, his list of half-centuries without centuries in Australia keeps getting bigger. He set a record in the process, an unwanted one although. He is now the batsman with the most half-centuries without a century in Australia with 9 such instances.
Mohammad Yousuf is still the highest scorer in a calendar year in international test cricket. Before the series began, this was one of the most talked-about topics whether Joe Root could break the all-time record.
The fans of Joe Root, just like him, were disappointed again. England's batting order crumbled like a house of cards.
It would have taken something extraordinary from him to do so, to go on to break the record. Even though he kept doing extraordinary things throughout the year, which kept the fans believing, it was not going to happen this time.
Joe Root could not fashion more than 28 runs, finishing the year at 1708 runs, 80 less than Mohammad Yousuf in 2006.
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