•While the 31-year-old excelled with the bat his record as captain was tarnished by damaging defeats on tours of Australia and the Caribbean.
•Root scored six test centuries and finished 2021 with the third-highest ever total of runs in a calendar year, behind the tallies of Mohammad Yousuf (1,788) and Viv Richards (1,710).
England's Joe Root has been named the 'Leading Cricketer in the World' in the latest edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack after scoring 1,708 test runs in 2021.
Root, who stepped down as England captain earlier this month, scored six test centuries and finished 2021 with the third-highest ever total of runs in a calendar year, behind the tallies of Mohammad Yousuf (1,788) and Viv Richards (1,710).
While the 31-year-old excelled with the bat his record as captain was tarnished by damaging defeats on tours of Australia and the Caribbean.
"Root rose above the struggles of England's test side to produce one of the all-time great performances in a calendar year," Wisden editor Lawrence Booth said.
South Africa opener Lizelle Lee was named the leading women's player in the world after scoring 632 one-day international runs in 2021 at an average of 90.28, including a career-best unbeaten 132 against India.
Indian duo Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, England pacer Ollie Robinson, New Zealand batter Devon Conway and South Africa women's captain Dane van Niekerk were Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year.
Elsewhere, David Warner is feeling the heat over his failure to score a century in this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) but rather than his Delhi Capitals teammates putting him under pressure it is his young daughters demanding answers.
Warner smashed an unbeaten 60 off 30 balls to help Delhi secure a nine-wicket victory against Punjab at the Brabourne Stadium on Wednesday but even his third successive half-century did not cut the mustard.
The opener said his daughters were more impressed with Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler, who has hit two centuries this season.
"They just want to know why I didn't score a hundred," said the Australian after helping Delhi to their third win in six matches. "Sixty is not good enough these days.
"They keep watching Jos score hundreds and ask me questions why I can't hit the ball out of the park-like him."