England middle-order batter Joe Root on Saturday played a rash shot to get out at a crucial juncture on the third day of the IND vs ENG 3rd Test. Root’s dismissal followed a collapse of the England batting line up as the visitors, who began the day at 207/2, were bundled out for 319. Root faced a lot of flak from former players and journalists of his own country, with a famous newspaper calling the shot ‘the stupidest in English Test cricket history’.
Root was batting on 18 of 30 balls when he tried to reverse paddle shot off the bowling of Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah. The England batter miscued the shot and the ball landed straight to the hand of Yashasvi Jaiswal who was fielding in the second slip.
His dismissal triggered a collapse as England could only add 112 runs to their overnight total. His dismissal wasn’t taken kindly by the pundits, who claimed Root is trying too hard to fit into England’s attacking brand of cricket.
“Joe Root’s latest Bazball shot is the stupidest in English Test cricket history,” famous cricket writer Scyld Berry wrote in his headline for an article at The Telegraph.
“Root was far too good to gift India such a cheap wicket 20 mins into a crucial day when they are down to 10 players,” former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote on Twitter.
Opposite views
However, there were some opposite views too. Ben Duckett after the day defended Root’s shot, saying people did not bat an eye when the same shots were going for six.
Nasser Hussain also came out in support of Root’s shot, and reminded the critics that Root has been largely successful in playing unorthodox shots in the past.
“When he is playing those reverse scoops first ball of the day of an Ashes game and it goes for six we all jump up and applaud and go ‘wow, Joe Root’. And he does it to Bumrah and gets out, we go ‘what a disgrace’.”
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