The Athletic has launched a Cricket WhatsApp Channel. Click here to join.Joe Root took a little time to consider his options when asked if he would lead England’s cricket team again, but was soon dusting off his old captain’s blazer and preparing to come to his country’s rescue.There was little chance, in truth, of him saying no once it became clear Ben Stokes would not be at The Oval this week to face New Zealand in the second of a three Test series. And when it was decided England simply could not turn to Stokes’ vice-captain Harry Brook, given his behaviour in New Zealand last winter was the main reason the curfew Stokes himself subsequently broke was introduced in the first place.How could Root turn them down when England needed him to step into Stokes’ shoes at the most turbulent of times, both for his great friend and the Test side?Root always has put the team first. He has done so throughout his record-breaking career, and did so during a long spell as captain remembered more for the miserable way it concluded rather than the many barriers he had to overcome.“I never thought I’d be sat here talking to you guys as captain again,” England’s new and old skipper told reporters at The Oval on Tuesday while Stokes was 270 miles away from the south London venue and, apparently, in “good spirits”, preparing to play for Durham against Northamptonshire.“I did have a little think about it when asked to do this before saying yes, but I’m very excited about the opportunity ahead of us. The only thinking that came to my mind was, ‘What is the best thing for this team and is it going to have a big effect on me and my personal life?’.“Fact is, it just felt like it was the right thing to do. I’m in a very different place to when I finished the captaincy. It is going to be a really fun week.”Joe Root speaks to the media, including The Athletic, at The Oval (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)How English cricket needs a bit of fun in this second Test after one of its most difficult weeks in modern times; one that leaves the future of Stokes as captain in severe doubt after both Rob Key and Brendon McCullum chose not to back him publicly.Root insists he is only looking at returning to the captaincy on a “game by game” basis, but it became clear on Tuesday that he has a bit of unfinished business despite leading England in a record 64 Tests before he was replaced by Stokes after a run of one win in his last 17 matches.“I have been a little envious (of Stokes) working with someone like Baz (McCullum) in this capacity,” Root said. “The last couple of days have been really cool. I have never had more fun and got more out of a group of coaches than this one.”That is very different to how it all ended for Root when, in early 2022, he stood down before he could be pushed after five years in the role and admitted he had developed “a very unhealthy relationship” with the captaincy.He won more Tests than anyone else in the job (27), but that was more to do with his longevity. The perception of Root remains of somebody who was a limited captain, particularly after his era ended with a grim series defeat against the West Indies in the Caribbean.Root could be unimaginative in his leadership and was not particularly tactically shrewd. There is also the considerable blot on his record that is the way Root handled Jofra Archer after he emerged in 2019, giving him a bowling workload that left the guy close to broken.Perhaps the day that summed up the partnership of Root and then coach Chris Silverwood came at Lord’s in 2021, when England refused to even attempt a modest run-chase of 273 in 75 overs against New Zealand. It showed a complete lack of enterprise and ambition.But there are several mitigating factors.When Root took over in 2017, planning was already underway for England’s challenge at the 2019 World Cup. For the only time in English cricket history, the white-ball team had priority over the Test side.Then, at the end of Root’s first summer in the job, Stokes was involved in the nightclub incident in Bristol which led to an 11-month saga that definitely had an effect on Root individually and England’s Ashes hopes. That January, Root finished his first tour as captain in Australia, without the talismanic Stokes, not just beaten but out on his feet in 40C (104F) heat in Sydney, having picked up a gastro bug.Joe Root struggled badly towards the end of the 2017-18 Ashes tour (William West/AFP via Getty Images)Most significantly, Root was captain during the Covid-19 years, when England were expected to keep on playing to protect the game’s finances and the team had to live in bio-secure bubbles, including during his second, also ill-fated, shot at winning the Ashes in Australia. That took a heavy mental toll on the players and management.Root not only had to captain the side but also carry a heavy batting load on his shoulders. His record initially improved with the bat, averaging 61 in his last full year at the helm in 2021, before eventually dipping below his non-captaincy stats.“We played around 20 matches in those Covid environments and watched the rest of the world go back to normality around us,” he said. “Over time, that took a toll on the group and also myself. I ended up so consumed with everything that I wasn’t the person I wanted to be, and it was the right time to step away.“It was a great opportunity for a fresh start for English cricket (in 2022), and it was absolutely the right decision for me to go when I did. When you look back at what happened after I went, it was amazing. The last four years have been the most exciting and fun part of my career. I don’t regret anything that happened.”The role Root played in the re-birth of England under Stokes and McCullum, at least for their first two years in charge, was typical of the man and should not be underestimated.He could have been excused for feeling bitter and wallowing in his own misfortune about the initial success of his successor and 'Bazball'. But not a bit of it. Instead, he totally bought into the new ways, even trying to play the Bazball way himself before an injudicious reverse ramp in Rajkot against India early in 2024 persuaded him to revert to what he does best — score a shedload of runs.“Some guys find it difficult as a senior player having captained the side before, but I have loved that role,” he said. “Being able to offer something slightly different — it is going to be cool experiencing this side of it.”Joe Root embraced Bazball (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)So now Root will be in charge of an inexperienced team at The Oval and almost certainly in the final Test of the series at Trent Bridge that quickly follows it. And nothing sums up that inexperience more than the fact that Root has made more Test appearances than the rest of the team combined — 164 to 138. And after these two Tests, with another three-game series against Pakistan to come in August, who knows?For now, he has found that old blazer again to wear for Thursday’s coin toss.“It was in a cupboard in the garage at home,” said Root, who wanted to keep his conversations with Stokes since the incident in a Chelsea nightclub to himself. “It was a bit creased when I got it down, and there were about 30 team-sheets in the pockets I had to take out. I had to check it still fits, actually.”The blazer and the cap have always fitted for Joe Root. And now we will see if he can captain England in a different way, at age 35, and in a very different England environment.“I’ll be myself,” he added. “I’m not going to try to be someone I’m not. I’ll be as genuine as I can be, but I think I’m a very different player and have a very different way of looking at the game to the last time I was captain.”Whatever happens next in the wacky world of England cricket will be fascinating.