Former India cricketer, Ravi Shastri took a cheeky dig at England batter, Joe Root, for his poor show with the bat in the ongoing 5-match Test series against India. Shastri, who is on commentary duties in the series, pointed out the startling fact that Root has bowled more overs than the amount of runs he has scored in the series so far.
In 6 innings so far, Root has bowled over 90 overs and conceded 295 runs with 7 wickets under his belt. Root’s bowling average is over 42 with a strike rate of 78. Root, the batter, has been disappointing so far with just 70 runs to his name in 5 innings. He is averaging a mere 14 with the highest score of 29.
IND vs ENG, 3rd Test Day 3: Highlights
“Joe Root has bowled 89 overs in this Test series, which is more than the runs he scored,” Shastri made a cheeky remark when Root was bowling during India’s 2nd innings on Day 3 of the 3rd Test match in Rajkot.
ROOT’S STRUGGLES AGAINST BUMRAH
Root threw away his wicket on the morning of Day 3 in the Rajkot Test, as he reverse-scooped Jasprit Bumrah’s delivery only to be caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal in the slips. This was the 9th time in 21 innings that Bumrah got the better of the English batter. Root could manage to score only 18 runs in 31 balls. Despite scoring over 1000 Test runs against India, the batter has failed to impress in the ongoing series with the bat.
In the 2nd Test match as well, Root was left clueless by a reverse-swinging Bumrah who was bowling away swingers and the last ball got much straighter. Expecting the ball to come inwards, Root edged the delivery to Shubman Gill in the slips.
A LOOK BACK AT ROOT’S PERFORMANCE IN 2021 SERIES
In the 2021 series, Root played a match-winning knock of 218 against India in Chennai. After that, the batter has managed to score only 345 runs at an average of 20.29 in 17 Test innings. He managed to score only a single fifty-plus score, with his highest score being 73. Root emerged as an off-spinner for England during the 2021 series as he picked up a 5-wicket haul in Ahmedabad. However, England’s key players couldn’t make an impact with either bat or ball in the series so far.
