Joe Root to represent Yorkshire in T20 Blast match: The English Test captain had last played a competitive T20 match in May 2019.
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England Test captain Joe Root will play a T20 match for Yorkshire for the first time in the last two years as he eyes a potential return to the national T20I side after last playing for England in the format more than a year ago.
The emergence of multiple hard-hitting batsmen in England’s T20I side has made it difficult for Root to retain his place. With a couple of ICC T20 World Cups to be played in the next two years, it seems now is the apt time for Root to present a case for a T20I comeback.
Having scored 893 runs in 32 T20Is at an average of 35.72, Root is England’s fourth-highest run-scorer among active players. However, his strike rate of 126.30 is the second-worst (after Ravi Bopara – 118.69) in the list of Top 10 run-scorers in T20Is for England.
It was in the 2018-19 season of the Big Bash League that Root represented Sydney Thunder in a bid to fine-tune his T20 credentials. Having said that, the right-hand batsman returned with below par figures as his seven outings only fetched him 93 runs at a strike rate of 114.81.
Joe Root to represent Yorkshire in T20 Blast match
With the ongoing third Test between England and Pakistan concluding today in Southamton, Root will turn up for Yorkshire against Nottingham in Headingley on Thursday.
“I spoke to Rooty [Joe Root] last night [Tuesday], and he’s chomping at the bit. He’s got a point to prove not being in the England T20 set-up, which is a good thing for us,” Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale told the ECB Reporters Network.
“I’m not quite sure how many games he will play [but] he’s definitely going to play on Thursday. England are making a selection on the Australian T20 series on Sunday night, so he might play on Sunday and Monday as well. Everything’s a bit up in the air. I just see anything as a bonus because we didn’t expect to have him at all.”
In 27 T20s for Yorkshire from 2011-18, Root has scored 570 runs at an average of 33.53 and a strike rate of 131.64 including four half-centuries and a career-best score of 92*.
