Is Joe Root struggling to play his natural game in the Bazball era? Not long ago, former England skipper Alastair Cook claimed that Root struggles with the tempo of England’s Bazball era. Desperate to fit in England’s Bazballers side, Root failed to fire for Ben Stokes and Co. in the 1st innings of the 3rd Test against India at Rajkot on Saturday. The former England skipper was outsmarted by pace ace Jasprit Bumrah in the 39th over on Day 3 of the 3rd Test.
Root’s decision to reverse ramp Bumrah early on the day backfired as England were reduced to 224-3. Placed at the second slip, youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal took a brilliant catch to dismiss Root before his scintillating century put India on top at Stumps Day 3 in Rajkot. With Root reverse-scooping Bumrah straight to second slip, former India pacer RP Singh questioned the batting approach of the former England skipper.
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‘His career might have gotten over’
“The shot Joe Root played, if someone had played such a shot at domestic or club level, his career might have gotten over. He would have been asked to first correct things and come as you can’t play like that. I am not able to think how the support staff would see that shot. I never thought such a compact player would play this shot and that too against Jasprit Bumrah. He might have thought two days ago that he would try something unique as Bumrah was anyway dismissing him,” Singh told Colors Cineplex.
Bumrah vs Root
Bumrah has dismissed Root on nine occasions in Test cricket. Root smashed a brilliant double century against India at Chennai when England toured the Asian giants in 2021. Since then, Root has registered below-par individual scores against India. The Englishman has not scored a single 50-plus score for England against India in the last 12 innings away from home.
‘Root needs to be careful against Bumrah’
“There was a match being played in between this match. Jasprit Bumrah has been on top of him (Root) in this series and he has been dismissed in different fashions. It’s not that he has been dismissed similarly. I would say it’s more in Joe Root’s mind that he needs to be careful against Jasprit Bumrah,” the former Indian pacer added.
Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
