An audacious reverse-ramp against Jasprit Bumrah proved fatal for Joe Root as the England star’s first innings in Rajkot was cut short at only 18 runs.
With Root already struggling on this India tour and the match and the series hanging in balance, Root’s dismissal sparked up huge criticism from the England fans, media, and ex-cricketers. Amid this, former India opener Aakash Chopra found a funny reference from the move ‘Lagaan’ to troll Root.
While Joe Root has played the reverse ramp with some success over the past two years – bringing him 60 runs in 22 attempts and one dismissal before today – it was perhaps a judicious shot today, considering he attempted it against Bumrah, and in the first hour of the day, the time when bowlers have found considerable help in the past two days of the game.
It was a length delivery outside the off stump and came in with Bumrah’s angle. Root had already premeditated the reverse ramp or the reverse scoop, but he didn’t connect it properly. The ball flew to Yashasvi Jaiswal at second slip and he took a sharp catch with a little juggle.
Joe Root got criticised, lambasted, and trolled on social media for this shot:
Former India batsman and now commentator Aakash Chopra joined the bandwagon and recalled a batsman in the movie Lagaan who played similar scoops and ramps.
Check out Chopra’s post on Root:
Former England captain and Joe Root’s former teammate Alastair Cook was critical of the choice of Root’s shot. Cook feels Root should have avoided playing that stroke against Bumrah in the first hour of the day. This was the 9th time Bumrah dismissed Root.
Cook said, “You have to question if it was tactically right to play that shot. You’ve got Bumrah, who is India’s best bowler, and Root has struggled playing against him.
“When he played it in the Ashes on the first ball on day three at Edgbaston, we didn’t mind because it was about getting runs. But in this series, when all the wickets have been in the first 30 minutes of play, it was the wrong time to play it.”
Root’s wicket triggered a collapse from 224/2 to 319 all out. A century from Jaiswal and a fifty from Gill have taken India’s lead to 322.
Also Read: Watch – Rohit Sharma’s Epic Reaction After Jasprit Bumrah Took England Bowlers To Cleaners
