Captaincy pressure took a toll me and my family, reveals Root

Joe Root spoke about his 'unhealthy relationship' with England's Test captaincy which took a toll on his mental health and that of his family's following the first Test win over New Zealand on Sunday.

Root, who handed over the reins to Ben Stokes last month, said that he realized the pressures of being the team's captain was unfair to those around him.

"It had become a very unhealthy relationship to be honest, the captaincy and me," Root told reporters after leading his team to a win with an unbeaten 115 in the second innings.

"It started to really take a bad toll on my own personal health. I couldn't leave it at the ground anymore, it was coming home. It wasn't fair on my family, on people close to me and it wasn't fair on myself either," he added.

Following their Ashes debacle in Australia earlier this year, Root maintained that he would like to lead the side for as long as possible and stepped down from his role following 1-0 series defeat in the Caribbean.

"I had thrown everything at it and I was determined to help turn this team around but I realised over that time at home that it would have to be in a different way."

Root relished his role as the team's experienced batter against New Zealand as he became the second Englishman to complete 10,000 Test runs after Sir Alastair Cook.

"I'm very excited to do that now and to do everything I can to help Ben really turn this team around and make this team the force it should and can be. It got to the stage where it was time for someone else to lead that but I can try and influence it in a different role, in a different way," Root said.

"I threw absolutely everything at the role and I'm proud of the way that I tried to do that."