England’s star batter Joe Root is one of the finest batters of the modern generation. Joe Root is known for his consistency with the bat but in the first test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, Root left everyone shocked by batting left-handed.
Joe Root shocks Pakistan bowlers by batting left-handed
Root scored a half-century against Pakistan on the fourth day of the Rawalpindi Test and just in the next over he decided to bat left-handed against leg spinner Zahid Mahmood so as to get more comfortable playing with the spin rather than against the spin. On the first delivery, the English batter played a sweep shot towards the mid-wicket region but couldn’t find a run.
The excitement levels of the cricket fans reached to peak level on the second delivery of Mahmood’s over as Root again tried the sweep shot but this time it was a lofted sweep towards mid-wicket. While Root played this shot to score a boundary, but it almost ended in Naseem Shah’s hand who was placed for this particular shot.
Naseem Shah placed near mid-wicket attempted a full-length dive but just managed to get fingertips to the ball as Root survived despite playing a mistimed shot. After this shot the English batter decided to go back to his right-handed stance and then reverse-swept spinner Zahid Mahmood for four.
Joe Root decides to bat left-handed 😳#PAKvENG | #UKSePK pic.twitter.com/GOvnkof54B
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 4, 2022
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The competition between Root and leg spinner Mahmood went on and eventually Mahmood got rid of the experienced batter as he bowled a down the leg flighted delivery. Root was forced to play a conventional sweep shot on the turning wicket but couldn’t middle the shot. The ball flew with the top edge and ended up in a simple catch at fine leg. Root scored a crucial 73 off 69 before falling to the leg spinner.
At the stumps of day 4, Pakistan are placed at 80-2 and they still require 263 runs to conquer the English total. Earlier, the English side put on a total of 264 runs in just 36 overs in the second innings. They declared their innings after setting a target of 343 runs as the match is well poised and must be really exciting on the fifth day for the cricket fans.