Former England captain Michael Vaughan has slammed former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann, labelling his verdict that Joe Root is a level below Virat Kohli as 'nonsense'. Lehmann, the former Australia batter, rated Kohli a notch above Root after India beat Australia in the 1st Test at Perth because Root hasn't scored a single Test century in Australia. Despite smashing 35 Test tons and closing in on Sachin Tendulkar's record for most Test runs in the game, next year's Ashes could be his last chance to break the Aussie hoodoo, Root didn't quite get the same stamp of approval from Lehmann as Kohli, who has peeled off seven Test hundreds Down Under.

"Joe Root is a great player, but is he an all-time great? He’s had four [three] goes in the Ashes, hasn't made a hundred. A rung below for that reason. They've made runs all over the world in difficult conditions against different oppositions. And that’s the only thing stopping Joe Root. I think he’s a great player, but is he in that upper echelon?" Darren Lehmann had said.

But Vaughan reckons that's no ground to rate a batter below or higher than his peers, especially given that Root is just 3145 runs away from eclipsing the great Tendulkar. In the first Test against New Zealand, Root (1630 and counting) left Tendulkar (1625) behind to score the most runs by a batter in the fourth innings of Test matches. Vaughan has been a vocal admirer of Root's game, placing him on a pedestal higher than Kohli – he recently noted down Root and Kohli's Tests statistics to prove his point – hence, it wasn't surprising to see him take objection.

"What a load of nonsense," Vaughan said on SEN Mornings, firing a response to Lehmann's claims. "We're talking about a player that could quite easily – if he stays fit and that back stays strong – surpass Sachin Tendulkar in a few years.

Joe Root's Test record in Australia

Root has played 34 Ashes Tests, scoring 2428 runs at an average of 40.47, including four centuries. Still, when it comes to batting in Australia, those numbers plummet significantly – 892 runs from 14 matches at an average of 35.68. His highest score is an innings 89 at Brisbane in December 2021. Root has eight fifties in Test matches Down Under, but the former England captain has never been able to convert it into a hundred. Root, 33, still has time to change it next year when England travel to Australia to reclaim the urn. However, that alone cannot define the greatness of Root, reckons Vaughan.

"Just because he's not got a hundred here in Australia, this isn't the be-all and end-all. You'd like to come here, and score runs. But he'll come next year in the way that he's playing in this England side now at four – playing the Joe Root way rather than the Bazball way – I've got a sneaky feeling that might come back to haunt Darren next year," said Vaughan.

"He might get a couple of hundreds next year and the way that England are playing, particularly against this Kookaburra ball, I think it’s going to be a great contest."

While Root may currently be ahead of Kohli, the real test takes place next year when India tour England for a five-match series, marking the start of the fourth World Test Championship cycle.

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