Despite being a spinner, Joe Root dished out a surprise bouncer that stunned India batsman Shreyas Iyer on Day 1 of the ongoing 2nd Test in Visakhapatnam.
Shreyas Iyer’s bouncer weakness is well-known. And England have attacked him with short balls in this series – from Mark Wood in the first Test and from James Anderson in the second Test. However, for a spinner to do that was simply hilarious, and also a bit derisive on Iyer that even a spinner wants to bounce him out, although Joe Root is no ordinary spinner: he is now the 4th ranked ICC Men’s Test all-rounder.
In the 38th over of India’s innings, as Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal were building a partnership, Joe Root ran in like a medium-pacer – with a slightly more aggressive run-up than he does when bowling his regular off-spin – and with some effort from his back, he sent down a short ball.
Shreyas Iyer wasn’t really ready for a short ball – who would be when facing a spinner? – but did well to pull it on the legside. The video of Joe Root’s short ball to Iyer has gone viral.
Watch: Shreyas Iyer surprised by Joe Root’s bouncer in 2nd Test
![[Watch] Off-Spinner Joe Root Stuns Shreyas Iyer With A Bouncer In IND vs ENG 2nd Test](https://thecricketlounge.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/shardul-84.webp)
Nooo😭😭😭
The disrespect pic.twitter.com/Lbcfd7HrvT— Shivani (@meme_ki_diwani) February 2, 2024
Shreyas Iyer, who scored 27 runs before getting out to Tom Hartley, was one of the many Indian batsmen who got a start but couldn’t convert it into a big score.
While Jaiswal was dominant from his end, he kept losing partners regularly at the other end to soft dismissals. The batters were simply unable to forge a big partnership with Jaiswal, who ended the day at a score of 179*, but none of the other batters managed to score more than 32 as India ended with 336/6.
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