CHENNAI: In hindsight it was in evidence in his very first Test innings at Nagpur in late 2012. Joe Root, during his critical 73 off 229 balls, used three different forms of the sweep -conventional, paddle and the reverse - against three of India's four frontline spinners: Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla.
Even if the sweep was still a popular shot to employ in India, overseas batsmen tended to use it as a last resort. It was their 'break glass in case of emergency' option. Most of them couldn't read the spinners so they swept. Root, even then, wasn't like that. He swept because he believed.
Four years later, as part of The Big Four, Root had become the batsman the prophecies had pointed to when he was in his teens at Yokrshire. Even if that 2016 series wasn't a kind one for England - they lost 0-4 - their No 3 was amongst the runs.
His 491 runs across five Tests was second only to Virat Kohli and he passed 50 at least once in all games, a rare honour. Among visiting batsmen, only five players have scored more in India in a series this century - Andy Flower, Matthew Hayden, Younis Khan, Alastair Cook and Steve Smith.
What stood out was the way Root had improved his sweeping game. He had also developed a powerful sweep for deliveries wide outside off. He swept them in front of square on the leg side for four. Two innings, his century at Rajkot in the first Test and a sweeping clinic on a deteriorating pitch at Mumbai where he made 77 in the fourth Test, were works of art.
In the four years since, England's red and pink ball captain has further worked on it. And his efficiency while using the sweep is so good you could call him the shot's king. One number that Cricviz put out after his double century against Sri Lanka in January reveals a story.
Since 2018 November, he averages 300 while playing it. The next best? Jonny Bairstow's 82 isn't even in the same postcode. Needless to say during the Sri Lanka series, he made a big chunk of his runs while employing the sweep. He's also added another variation to his sweeping arsenal, switching hands before diverting the ball through the third man region.
So how did he develop it? Kevin Sharp, one of Root's first coaches at Yorkshire, narrates a story that really brings to the fore the way Root thinks about the game. "When Root had first gotten a scholarship and started playing for the club, he was still small, tiny even," Sharp remembers.
"He realised pretty quickly that he didn't have the power to step out and hit them over long on... in front of the square. So he started practising the sweep and he had those variations even then. He practised the conventional sweep, the slog sweep and the reverse sweep," he said.
Even back then, he had wanted to compensate for a lack of power game so kept working on his sweeps. Morning, noon, night... he would be there working on it relentlessly. "So it's not really a surprise that he has become so good at it. I am a big believer that repeated meaningful practice can achieve perfection and that's what you are seeing today," he said.
Sharp, who is now head of coach and player development at Worcestershire, adds: "When he made his Yorkshire second team debut, I think he scored a 50-odd. He made some of those using the sweep. Even though he had a sudden growth at 16 or 17, he kept working on his sweep during his training."
"When he had became confident with the conventional sweep, he started working on the reverse as well as the slog. That work ethic to constantly working on your game, not just strengthening your strong points but working on other aspects of the sweep is what sets him out," Sharp said.
As the UK was going through its first lockdown in May, 'The R66T Academy' (Root's father, Matt, is the director), uploaded two videos on YouTube. One was titled 'Joe Root Masterclass - Sweep shot'. The other was titled 'Joe Root Masterclass - Reverse Sweep'.
When you click on it and watch Root take you through the two shots, it's like listening to Dumbledore on how to use a wand. Just before Christmas, Sharp got Root on a Zoom call to get the 30-year-old to pass on a few tips to the next generation of Worcester players. "Root basically gave me an hour on Zoom and he was very good as always, he narrated his experiences while growing up, passed on some tips. Including on how to play the sweep," he said.