Being the captain of the England team is never easy. If it’s the Test side, the job is possibly more difficult. There’s a rich culture of loving Test cricket and the experience of doing well in the longest format. Unlike other countries, Test cricket is more important to England than any other format. At least that was the case until 2015.

But even with the success of the white-ball teams, Test cricket remains a thing of joy for the English fan. To lead the English Test side is possibly the biggest privilege a cricketer growing up in England can have. But there hasn’t been a more difficult time to lead the England Test team. Yet, he does that. He has done everything possible to stand up for this role.

Growing up in Yorkshire, he would have dreamt of playing for England. Being from a place that has produced batting maestros like Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan, the standards set for him were pretty high, to begin with. But he stood up to it. He learned the craft. When world cricket saw him for the first time at the U-19 World Cup 2010, everyone instantly knew something was special about him.

He made his debut in 2012 on England’s tour of India and started his career with an impressive 70-odd on a turning track in Nagpur. That knock helped England draw the match and take home a series from India for the first time in 28 years. It happened with possibly England’s best ever batting line-up. Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, and England’s best ever wicket keeper-batter, Matt Prior. He was just the new kid on the block. Eight and half years later, he is all England has.

Since his debut, no one has played more Test matches than him. With time, England’s batting greats kept leaving one by one. In an era where the focus shifted to building a name for themselves in white-ball cricket, England somehow stopped producing batsmen who were capable of bossing Test cricket. Gone were the days where they had just fi.