Joe Root

A phenomenal batter, a fantastic leader, a modern-day legend. Over the years, Joe Root came to be known as one of England’s finest cricketers through his exemplary display of batsmanship and captaincy. Having debuted on the international circuit in 2012, Root went on to score over 10,000 runs in Test cricket alone. He has been equally successful in the 50-over format, accumulating 6000-plus runs so far. That he would one day captain England to greatness wasn’t a secret anymore. England’s blue-eyed boy took over his team’s Test captaincy in 2017, succeeding a stalwart in Alastair Cook. Two years later, he marshalled England to their first ODI World triumph, finishing the tournament as the fifth-highest run-scorer with 556 runs. And contrary to public perception, his T20I records are impressive to say the least. In 32 T20Is, he has scored almost 900 runs at an average of 35.72 and has a 120-plus strike rate. It was only a matter of time before an IPL franchise would pick him, and 2023 turned out to be the year that Royals did.