Joe Root’s second tenure as England Test captain began in the most fitting surroundings at Headingley last month – the home of Yorkshire’s favourite son. By his own admission, Root could not have chosen a more appropriate venue for his return as captain.‘Absolutely no pressure at all,’ Root told Daily Mail Sport at Headingley when England turned to him as a quick fix for a leadership crisis, off-field scandals and the underperformance of a side that should, at the very least, have contested one World Test Championship final.Wearing the famous No66 jersey in his 66th Test as captain, Root made 66 against Pakistan and, with his routine fifty at Headingley, he drew level with Sachin Tendulkar on a record 68 half-centuries.Root shattered Tendulkar’s record in the third Test against Pakistan and now returns to Leeds for the second ODI against Sri Lanka on Thursday.His first trip to Headingley came in 2002, when the Sheffield-born teenager watched the third Test against India with his young cricketing team-mates. It was the same Test in which Yorkshire’s first overseas signing returned as the Master Blaster, scoring a memorable 193.‘India won the toss and batted first, and I watched one wicket all day,’ said Root, chuckling. ‘It was Rahul Dravid (148) and Sourav Ganguly (128) who got a boatload of runs, and that’s one where Sachin got, I don’t know how much. Joe Root’s second tenure as England Test captain began in the most fitting surroundings at Headingley last month (above) – the home of Yorkshire’s favourite son Root’s first trip to Headingley came in 2002, when the Sheffield-born teenager watched Sachin Tendulkar blast 193 for India‘It was a tough toil for the England bowlers, but that was my first experience of coming here with a local cricket club. It was with Rotherham Town, actually. And they took the Under 11s out to watch the game, and it was a great experience.’Ten years later, a 21-year-old Root made his Test debut against an India side still built around Tendulkar. On Tuesday, Root eclipsed Tendulkar when he completed 23,000 international runs during the 1st ODI against Sri Lanka at Durham.The Yorkshire batter unlocked the milestone in his 521st international innings, while Tendulkar took 522 innings to achieve the same feat in his decorated career. Root is also the first Englishman to pass 23,000 runs in international cricket.From 12 to 21, Root was forged in Yorkshire, where former county batting coach Kevin Sharp proved instrumental in the making of England’s greatest batter from Sheffield.‘Huge role (Sharp played),’ said Root. ‘He got hold of me when I was about 12 years old until 21, and very impressionable years of your playing career and of your life in general and having good people, good mentors, is so important.‘He was excellent for me. Very good technical coach, but also had a really good way in understanding of me as a person. He would be very patient at times. He understood the challenges that I was going to face. I was always very small for my age, and him being very aware of that, and at some point I grew up, my body would catch up with where I wanted to be as a player.‘I can’t thank him enough for the input that he had just managing me as, you know, not getting too emotional, understanding what was gonna be really important further down the line, just looking ahead at how can we get ahead of other players at a young age so that when physically you catch up with everyone else, you’re in a really good position.’Raised by a cricket-loving family and coming from a county where leadership is earned, not given, Root has always led by example – making Sharp prouder than ever. When Ben Stokes dropped the retirement bombshell, Root was happy to call himself the ‘grandfather’ of the England side. Root said that when he first learned of Brydon Carse’s (right) recent nightclub incident, his main concern for the under-fire player was personal With England hit by another nightclub scandal in the build-up to the second Test against Pakistan, Root spoke to pace bowler Brydon Carse, who was dropped for the Lord’s decider.Root said that when he first learned of the incident, his main concern for the under-fire Carse was personal. Like his mentor Sharp, who coached the likes of Michael Vaughan and Jonny Bairstow at Yorkshire, Root has become England’s elder statesman, looking after the players on and off the field.‘I love him,’ he says of Sharp. ‘He’s mad. But, you know, he’s just a great man who did a lot, a lot for a number of players throughout that era, if you like. He is someone who was very impressionable on me.’At Lord’s, Root became the highest run scorer on home soil during England’s comfortable 194-run win over Pakistan. The England captain holds the record for smashing the most runs and centuries at the famous venue.Lord’s is also home to one of Root’s favourite personal memories, shared with his grandfather Don (known as ‘Sir Don’ to those around him), named after the great Don Bradman.Root’s grandad watched the 1948 Bramall Lane match between the Australians and Yorkshire in which Bradman played a stroke-filled knock of 54.‘One thing that I’ll always hold very dear to me was when I felt the moment at Lord’s, where we were holding the World Cup trophy in 2019 together. Just having a moment to reminisce about what it looked like to get to that point from there – from being a kid and him being instrumental in that, something I’m very fond of,’ Root said.Root had a brief spell at Nottingham Forest’s academy at 11, but he quit because football was getting in the way of batting nets. Root polished his batting with Sharp at Yorkshire, but it was his grandfather who played a quieter, and perhaps most formative, role for the proud product of Sheffield Collegiate. Root polished his batting with Sharp at Yorkshire, but it was his grandfather who played a quieter, and perhaps most formative, role for the proud product of Sheffield Collegiate‘My local cricket club, Sheffield Collegiate, didn’t have an Under 11 team when I was growing up, so he was involved with Rotherham Town, and that’s where I played my Under 11s cricket. I started at that age group and played Under 13s, Under 15s, and Under 17s for Sheffield Collegiate and Rotherham Town.‘Many great Monday nights there at Clifton Lane. Unfortunately, the club’s no longer around, but that was very special, going and playing in a different team, different squad of players and just learning the game in a different setting.’Don captained the Rotherham side during his playing days, and his father George also came from the same town. ‘I remember going up and down the country playing for Yorkshire as my parents were both working, so Don would take me to the games,’ he said.‘And, you know, we often stopped to try to find a decent fish and chip shop, everywhere in the world. He would ferry me here, there and everywhere, and I remember listening to Frank Sinatra and all sorts of different things over the years, up and down Yorkshire and away games and stuff,’ Root added.Yes, Root repaid his grandfather in some style. The Frank Sinatra singalongs stayed, but the destinations changed, as he took Don to exotic cricket grounds and made him a globetrotter.‘It’s been nice, throughout my professional career, to be able to take him around as well and give him opportunities to watch some brilliant Test cricket and experience different things in life.’Only Tendulkar (200) and James Anderson (188) have played more Tests than Root (169). It was at Headingley, ahead of a busy home summer this year, that the third-most capped player set himself a simple goal on his Yorkshire return: win all six home Test matches for England.Root was chasing multiple records while gearing up for a busy English summer. However, he insisted he is ‘not one for the numbers’. A lot has changed since then. Root has succeeded the retired Stokes as captain, and England have replaced Brendon McCullum with Stephen Fleming as head coach. After a massive win by an innings and 103 runs in Leeds, Root and Co. completed the 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan at Edgbaston. When asked about his favourite memory at Headingley, for Root, there was only one answer: ‘As a player in 2019, Stokesey winning that Test match (against Australia)’Now the 35-year-old will not be able to return to Headingley for Test action until 2029, with his home ground overlooked for next year’s Ashes. ‘Hopefully we can create some more special memories and moments at this brilliant ground. It’s one that’s steeped in amazing Test matches, brilliant things and rich history. I think it produces the best Test match cricket, the pitch, the outfield, and it’s a very knowledgeable crowd,’ he said.However, Root will receive a hero’s welcome again against Sri Lanka on Thursday. The famous ‘Roooooot’ chant always rings out loud whenever the Sheffield-born gets a boundary in Leeds.‘The Yorkshire supporters, they love their game; they understand it,’ he says. ‘They’re very passionate about it. And they let you know what they think as well. So, for those reasons combined, I think it makes for brilliant Test match cricket, and it’s always a joy when it’s your home ground to get the chance to represent England here.’When asked about his favourite memory at Headingley, for Root, there was only one answer.‘As a player in 2019, Stokesey winning that Test match (against Australia), just being there, having the chance to be out there in the middle, but also sitting in that dressing room watching that all unfold, was pretty magical. And the atmosphere that the crowd created that day was really special.’