From left-hand stance to trademark scoop: Joe Root hailed for innovative show vs Pakistan

Former England Test skipper Joe Root played a knock of 73 runs in 69 balls while batting in the third innings of the England vs Pakistan, first Test match at Rawalpindi. While the organisers have already received much criticism for curating a poor pitch in Rawalpindi, Root’s effort on Sunday displayed how easy batting at the surface was. En route to his half-century knock, Root displayed his batting masterclass by even switching his stance to that of a left-hander.

In a video from the live broadcast of the match, which is currently going viral on social media, the traditional right-handed batter can be seen switching his stance. In another video, Root can be seen providing a treat to cricket fans by playing his trademark reverse scoop shot. En route to his knock of 73 runs, the former Test skipper, accompanied by Harry Brook added a 96-run stand for the fourth-wicket stand.

England vs Pakistan: Run fest continues at Rawalpindi

While Root’s dismissal reduced England to 192/4 in 28.1 overs, Brook continued his explosive knock and hit 87 runs off 65 balls at a strike rate of 133.85. At the time of writing this article, England is 264/7 in 35.5 overs in their second batting innings. It is pertinent to mention that the Rawalpindi pitch has yet again turned out to be poorly curated, as batters are on a completely different level. 

Earlier in the first innings of the Rawalpindi Test, England went on to amass a record-highest Test total of 657 runs, before Pakistan hit 579 runs in the 2nd innings. Interestingly, there were four centuries scored by the England batting line-up. Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett hit 122 and 107 runs respectively, while Ollie Pope and Harry Brook scored 108 and 153 runs respectively.

England’s effort of scoring 506/4 on the first day of the game is also a world record in Test cricket. It was the highest total on Day 1 of a Test match, while the former biggest total was registered by Australia (494/6) in 1910 by South Africa in Sydney. At the same time, with the marathon innings, England became the fastest team to score 500 runs.