World Cup 2019: Joe Root is England's indispensable asset at the mega event

Tournament hosts England are set to take on South Africa in what promises to be an exciting tournament opener at the ICC World Cup 2019.

From the debacle of the 2015 World Cup to the tag of being favourites at the 2019 edition, England have gone through an incredible transformation in the last four years. They have written one of the most remarkable turnaround stories in recent white-ball cricket.

Flat batting wickets and short boundaries are expected throughout the 12th edition of the World Cup. A high-scoring World Cup is on the cards, which would give the edge to teams with strong batting lineups.

England are the home team, which means they are familiar with the pitches and grounds. More importantly, their recently-adopted style of play would suit the conditions perfectly.

What makes the home team special and unique is their vaunted batting strength. Along with an explosive top order, England also have the luxury of incredible batting depth with a tail that comprises Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett -- all of whom are more than capable of swinging the long handle and also batting sensibly when required.

But amid the array of flashy stroke-makers and explosive batsmen, there is an extremely vital cog in the England setup who doesn't always get his due as an ODI batsman. He is none other than the England’s No. 3 and Test match captain, Joe Root.

With Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow ahead of him and Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes to follow, Root at No. 3 is England’s anchor and their man for a crisis. His serene, calm yet classy style of batting stands out among the crowd, and beautifully connects the swashbuckling openers and explosive middle-order.

Joe Root in action in England's warm-up game against Afghanistan

More importantly, Root is also the builder of this side. His ability to take singles and doubles and to hit an occasional boundary here and there in the middle overs ensures that the scoreboard is kept moving.

Root's technically pure, effortless style of batting resembles a calm river current that mesmerizes us with its serene flow. Watching Root go about his business in a no-nonsense manner is nothing short of spectacular.

When the wicket is flat, runs are easy to come by and the batsmen around him are hitting the ball as hard as they can, Root might appear to be too conventional or even old-fashioned and slow. But in desperate times, on a difficult wicket, when the stroke-makers around him do not feel at home, Root would be their go-to man.

Root is the player entrusted with the responsibility of bailing the side out of troubled waters. He would have to bat alongside the lower-order batsmen in order to take his team to a position of safety, and we all know he is perfectly capable of doing that.

The only factor that can work against Root is his occasional tendency to not make the best use of his starts. He sometimes fails to convert his 50s into 100s, which means he doesn't always finish the job.

Heading into the World Cup, Root would hope to address this issue which has been a problem throughout his career. The world stage offers England’s No. 3 a perfect platform to unleash his full potential.

It goes without saying that Root, who bats sensibly and has a calm head on his shoulders, is an indispensable and irreplaceable asset to the England team. His countrymen would love for him to go the whole hog, and ensure that he finishes the task and wins his team their first ever World Cup trophy.

Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on World Cup teams, schedule, news, points table, live scores, world cup most runs, most wickets and fantasy tips.