India, Nov. 18 -- The headline in The West Australian didn't waste any ink. As Joe Root landed for yet another Ashes tour, the local paper greeted one of Test cricket's great modern run-machines with a two-word sledge: "Average Joe."

Strip away the provocation, and the numbers explain why Australia still feels it can needle him. Root arrives as one of the top three run-scorers in Test history - 13,543 runs at an average of 51.29 with 39 centuries - yet one country that obsesses over Ashes legacy more than any other is still the one place where he has never made a Test hundred and never won a Test.

Root's career is absurdly good. But put Australia as a filter, and the shine dips:

Against Australia overall, Joe Root has scored 2,428 runs...