'It's never enjoyable when you're losing': Joe Root opines on his stunning hundred

Former England captain Joe Root has opened up on his struggles while leading the national team, claiming that it was starting to take a massive toll on him and his family. Root came under the scanner after England's loss in the 2021-22 Ashes in Australia and also defeat to the West Indies team.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Root became the 'Player of the Match' in the opening Test against New Zealand at Lord's after he smashed a century and helped England win the game by five wickets. Moreover, they also took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with the second Test set to begin on June 10 at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

However, the Yorkshireman was relieved after the win after a long stint in the Test format. He was also happy after Ben Stokes started his captaincy journey with a win.

"It feels good for us to win a Test match. It feels like such a long time. Great to start strongly under Ben and Brendon and a great chance for us to kick on. A lot of people will talk about my personal performances, run-wise, but it's never enjoyable when you're losing. For us to start like this under Ben's leadership, it's a really exciting time," Root told Sky Sports. 

However, Root has also said that stepping down as the captain was hard, but he had to let go of the responsibilities to give himself more time as a batter. And, he has delivered well. Notably, he also became the 14th cricketer to notch 10,000 Test runs. With this, he also joined former international batter, Alastair Cook, in the elite list.

"Of course, it is [hard] but I'd thrown everything at it and it was starting to have an unhealthy effect on the rest of my life. I couldn't leave it in the car or at the ground. It was taking a toll on me and my family," he added.

However, Root also said that he wants to win matches for new captain Ben Stokes, who has won games under Root's leadership. Notably, Root scored a match-winning unbeaten knock of 115 runs off 170 balls to help England beat New Zealand.

"It feels fantastic, more than anything for us to have won this Test match after such a long time. It's been so enjoyable," Root again stated at the post-match presentation. "Hopefully, we can use this as a way to step forward. The number of times Ben (Stokes) has won us Tests under my leadership, it's a great chance for me to give back to him. I love batting. I want to score as many runs as I can and win us as many Test matches as I can. As long as I've got the energy and the drive to do it, I'll do it," Root concluded.