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Joe Root: 

Born: : December 30, 1990, in Dore, Sheffield, England

Joe Root is a Right-handed batsman who also bowls right-arm off spin for England. He has played 140 Tests, scoring 11,736 runs and taking 68 wickets. In ODIs, he has featured in 171 matches, scoring 6,522 runs and claiming 27 wickets. His T20I record includes 32 matches, with 893 runs and 6 wickets. Additionally, in first-class cricket, Root has played 210 matches, scoring 16,439 runs and taking 89 wickets. In List A cricket, he has participated in 209 matches, scoring 7,735 runs and taking 40 wickets. Finally, in T20s, he has played 97 matches, scoring 2,235 runs and taking 24 wickets.

Root made his Yorkshire second-team debut on July 18, 2007, against Derbyshire at Abbeydale Park, scoring 57 runs. He continued representing the academy side and won the Player of the Tournament award as Yorkshire's Academy clinched the ProARCH Trophy in Abu Dhabi. Root made his first-team debut for Yorkshire in their final Pro40 match of the 2009 season against Essex, scoring 63 runs.

In 2011, Root made his County Championship debut for Yorkshire against Worcestershire. He scored his maiden Championship hundred against Sussex at Scarborough in August. Root captained Yorkshire in the matches where they won the 2014 County Championship title and retained it the following year.

Root made his Test debut for England against India in 2012, becoming the 655th player to represent England at the Test level. He scored 73 runs in the first innings and helped England secure their first Test series win on Indian soil since 1984-85.

In 2013, Root scored his maiden Test century against New Zealand at his home ground, Headingley. He became the first Yorkshire player to score their first Test century at Headingley. Root was part of the England team that won the 2013 Champions Trophy.

In the 2013 Ashes series against Australia, Root opened the batting with Alastair Cook. He scored 180 runs in the second Test's second innings and was named Man of the Match for his performance with bat and ball.

Root struggled in the 2013-14 Ashes series in Australia, scoring 192 runs. However, he bounced back in 2014, scoring his fourth Test century against India at Trent Bridge and sharing a world record 10th wicket stand of 198 with James Anderson. Root finished the series with 518 runs and won the Man of the Match award in the final Test, helping England secure a 3-1 series victory.

In 2014, Joe Root was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year

In 2015, Root scored his sixth Test century against the West Indies, his first overseas century. He was named England's vice-captain ahead of the 2015 Ashes series, where he scored 460 runs, including three Ashes centuries, and was named Man of the Series as England regained the Ashes. He received the England Test Cricketer of the Year and England Limited-Overs Cricketer of the Year awards

Root continued his excellent form in 2016, scoring his highest Test score of 254 against Pakistan at Old Trafford. He finished the year as the leading run-scorer in Tests, with 1,477 runs, and was named in the ICC World Test XI.

On February 13, 2017, Root replaced Alastair Cook as the full-time Test captain of England, becoming the country's 80th captain. In his first match as captain against South Africa at Lord's, he scored 190 runs, setting a new record for the highest score by an England captain on debut.

Root captained England in the 2017-18 Ashes series in Australia, but England lost the series 4-0, with Root failing to convert any of his five half-centuries into a century.

In 2018, Root led England to a 4-1 series victory over India, scoring 125 runs in the final Test, his first century of the year. He became the first English captain to win a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2001, ending a run of three series without a win.

During the 2019 Ashes series, which ended in a 2-2 draw, Root scored three half-centuries but failed to score a century, leading to criticism of his conversion rate. He averaged 32.50 throughout the series.

In December 2019, Root scored his first double-century as England’s captain against New Zealand, becoming the first visiting captain to achieve this feat in New Zealand.

Root captained England to a 3-1 series victory in South Africa in 2019-20, which he described as his "proudest result" as captain. He had a consistent series with the bat, scoring three half-centuries but was again criticised for not converting them into hundreds.

Root was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours.

In 2021, Root continued his excellent form, scoring centuries in each of the first three Tests against India, returning to the top of the ICC Test batting rankings. Root's good form did not continue into the 2021-22 Ashes series, where England lost 4-0 to Australia. Despite being England's leading run-scorer, he managed only three fifties and a top score of 89, leading to calls for him to step down as captain.

Root was honoured with the PCA Player of the Year award in 2021 and was named one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year in April 2022.

On April 15, 2022, after captaining England 64 times, Root resigned as Test captain, stating it was the "most challenging decision" of his career but the "timing is right."

Throughout his career, Root has scored 31 Test centuries and 16 ODI centuries against various nations, making him the eleventh-highest international century scorer of all time.

In 2023, Root made his IPL debut but had limited impact, managing to score only 10 runs in a solitary inning.

Prior to the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, RR’s director of cricket and head coach, Kumar Sangakkara, was seen presenting Root with his maiden cap during the team huddle.

Root, who went unsold at the 2018 auction, was picked up for Rs. 1 crore ahead of this iteration of the IPL.

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