Ever since T20 and now T10 came into the game of cricket, INNOVATION became one of the leading weapons in the sport. However, we are often seeing that spilling into the Test format of cricket as well, with stuff like Bazball and more innovation being introduced in the longest format. Today, we saw something that hasn’t happened in our memories of watching the game.
It’s Pakistan vs England and the 1st Test is underway in Rawalpindi when we see the former England skipper and one of the world’s leading Test batsmen, Joe Root, doing something ridiculous. He decided to switch his stance and bat left-handed to face off against one of the Pakistan spinners, to combat a change in angle.
Joe Root batting left-handed
And it’s not like he decided to switch at the last minute and play a reverse sweep or a switch-hit. He consciously decided to bat left-handed before the bowler even began his run-up. The bowler was 34-year old Zahid Mahmood and even he was surprised to see what Root decided to do in response to Mahmood deciding to switch to bowling from around the wicket.
Joe Root batting as a left-hander. pic.twitter.com/6jqGYLer6I
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 4, 2022
The idea was probably to combat the angle of Mahmood going around the wicket, but it was surely a bit of genius from the former captain. In this particular game, Root missed out on scoring a fifty in the 1st innings, but he got to the landmark in the 2nd innings, on Day 4 of the game. Never seen something like this from any international cricketer, let alone a traditional batter like Root!
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Now while most of the world is praising Root for this move, it couldn’t very easily have gone the wrong way and he be made a laughing stock of as well. The first ball that he played left-handed, he was dropped by Naseem Shah and if that was taken, he would’ve become the butt of many jokes on social media. Watch Joe Root batting left-handed here:
🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/ESCSM9f2o1
— England's Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) December 4, 2022
Coming to the game, it was a completely flat track for this game which was a return to Test cricket in Pakistan, and it’s not the kind of pitch preparation cricket fans would’ve liked. We saw as many as seven centurions in the game until Day 4, with the count likely to go up as well. The game (as we type this), is likely to move into a DRAW.
For similar updates from 2022 England tour of Pakistan and general cricket news from around the world, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com.
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