Few English batsmen, barring former captain Alastair Cook, have averaged 50 or above in Asian conditions. But the numbers of Joe Root, who boasts an average of 59.07 in Asia, reflects how strong his game is against spin, which has troubled most of his England predecessors.

The form and rhythm Root is in, one doesn’t really need to speak about his weaknesses, if any, in Test cricket at the moment. Having said that, he still needs to do a little bit more in order to be counted among the best in contemporary cricket and that would be accomplished only by making it big against Australia in Australia, points out his mentor and childhood coach Shaun Siegert.

“Since 2012, Joe has established himself as a consistent performer for England in all formats of the game. He has the ability to adapt his game according to formats, conditions and different oppositions, and remember, he doesn’t have a power game.

“He is a player who I think has a real sense of occasion… In several of his milestone games he has played many innings of significance. He has consistently throughout his career been able to elevate his game to a new challenge.

“He has developed new shots — for instance, the sweep in the subcontinent — to a level where he can control the game and have an impact on the outcome. But I think the one area he needs to look at is performing in Australia.

“I reckon he’s yet to score a Test 100 in Australia. If he can have a big series next season in Australia (in Ashes 2021-22) and impact the game leading to victories, that will elevate him amongst the top few batsmen,” Siegert, also the head coach of Root’s academy (R66T Academy) in Chesterfield, told The Telegraph.

According to Siegert, mentally being in a good space is what seems to be helping him a fair bit. “In the first Test, the result underlines complete clarity and confidence in his plan, which enabled him to play at his tempo and be in control of his game.

“I think mentally Joe is in a very good space, which is allowing him to bat for long periods and make high quality decisions. I would say he has plans for each (rival) bowler, how he’s going to get them to bowl at him, which allows him to drive home the advantage,” Siegert emphasised.

Siegert, by the way, has mentored off-spinner Dom Bess and opener Rory Burns too, both being members of the current England Test squad.