Joe Root had more support from England’s top-order batsmen against India at Headingley, but he continues to play the game on a higher plane than his team mates. You could say he is in the form of his career after making his third hundred in successive Tests and his sixth in 2021.

Only two other England batsman have made six Test hundreds in a calendar year – Michael Vaughan and Denis Compton. Root, though, can smash that record there being another five Tests (two in this series and three in the Ashes) before the year is out.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone as Root, 30, has been England’s bes...