London, April 15 : England’s one of the most successful Test captains, Joe Root on Friday stepped down from the leadership role after five years of leading the English Test side. Root holds the record for the most number of matches and wins as England’s Test skipper. His 27 victories put him ahead of Michael Vaughan (26), Alastair Cook, and Andrew Strauss, 24 each. After being appointed as Cook’s successor in 2017, Root led the side to a number of famous series victories, including a 4-1 home series win over India in 2018 and a 3-1 triumph away to South Africa in 2020. In 2018, he became the first English men’s captain to win a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2001, a feat he went on to repeat with a 2-0 victory in 2021. Announcing his decision, the right-hand batter said: “After returning from the Caribbean tour and having time to reflect, I have decided to step down as England Men’s Test Captain. It has been the most challenging decision I have had to make in my career but having discussed this with my family and those closest to me; I know the timing is right.” “It has been an honour to have done the job and to have been a custodian of what is the pinnacle of English cricket. I have loved leading my country, but recently it’s hit home how much of a toll it has taken on me and the impact it has had on me away from the game,” Root added. “I am excited to continue representing the Three Lions and producing performances that will enable the team to succeed. I look forward to helping the next captain, my teammates and coaches in whatever way I can,” Root further said. He is also England’s second highest Test run scorer of all time behind only Cook and scored 14 centuries as captain. His tally of 5,295 runs as skipper is the highest by any England skipper. He is 5th in the all-time list behind Graeme Smith, Alan Border, Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli. BAV GK