One of the best batters in contemporary cricket is Joe Root. His accomplishments amply demonstrate his caliber and reliability. He is, however, experiencing a rare period of poor form during the current five-match Test series between England and India.
Joe Root was removed for eighteen in the opening innings of England’s third Test match in Rajkot by Jasprit Bumrah, who has recently shown more aggression than the previous England captain. But many were taken aback by the way the skilled batsman handed away his wicket.
Midway through a probing period, Bumrah bowled a full delivery outside off-stump. Root took the reverse-lap, a move that has yielded significant results for him in the past twelve months. But this time, he was unable to make a good connection, and Yashasvi Jaiswal caught the ball at second slip after it had left the bat.
When executed well, the bold picture looks fantastic, but when it doesn’t, questions are raised. When critiquing Root’s shot choice, former Indian pacer RP Singh did not hold back, saying that someone’s career may have ended if he had been out like that in club or domestic cricket.
“If someone had made a shot like the one Joe Root did at the club or national level, his career might have ended.
According to RP Singh on Colour Cineplex, “He would have been asked to come and correct things first because you can’t play like that.”
Bumrah dismissed Root for the third time in the series and for the ninth time in Test cricket overall. Singh believed that Root had planned the unusual shot since he had struggled to deal with the Indian vice-captain’s bowling in traditional cricket.
“I can’t imagine how the support personnel would interpret that shooting. I never imagined that a guy this small would take this shot, especially against Jasprit Bumrah. He might have considered trying something different two days prior because Bumrah was already brushing him off,” he continued.