Root, England’s greatest batter and a veteran of 166 Tests, said he hoped his “natural persona” is suited to bringing a sense of calm to the men’s national team.
Off-field issues dominated last winter’s tours, including an incident involving Harry Brook and a nightclub bouncer in Wellington and the team’s drinking during a mid-Ashes trip to Noosa, culminating in a heavy 4-1 defeat by Australia.
The issues continued into the summer when Stokes broke a team curfew, setting in motion a chaotic six weeks that resulted in a 2-1 series defeat by New Zealand, Stokes’ retirement and the sacking of McCullum.
Fellow New Zealander Stephen Fleming has been appointed as McCullum’s replacement, but batting coach Marcus Trescothick will take interim charge of the Test side for the three-match series against Pakistan.
Root, who has already led England in 65 Tests having held the role between 2017 and 2022, said one of his “big challenges” is “trying not to be Ben Stokes”.
“He is a very unique player with unbelievable qualities that I don’t think are easy to replicate,” Root said. “I don’t think there is any point trying to.
“It is going to have a slightly different look to it but that is OK.”
England were known for their attacking style under Stokes and McCullum but Root said he wants his side to be “versatile”.
“There has been a lot of good stuff that has happened in the past four years that will serve us really well.
“It is about not ripping it up, just fine tuning and evolving that and taking that to the next level. We have got to find a way of evolving the team without him.”
Root stopped short of naming an XI for the first Test on Tuesday, but England are expected to pick Surrey all-rounder Dan Lawrence in Stokes’ position at number six and rely on him to provide their spin-bowling option.
They will then choose between Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, Sam Cook, Brydon Carse and Matt Fisher for a four-man pace attack.
Pakistan confirmed captain Babar Azam has been ruled out of the first Test after he was hit on the hand during a warm-up match last week.
He will be replaced as skipper by Salman Ali Agha.
