Delhi Daredevils possibly eyeing Joe Root for IPL 2019: England Test captain might make his IPL debut next year.
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England’s Test captain Joe Root might finally play for the first time in the IPL (Indian Premier League) in 2019 as there is a possible chance of Delhi Daredevils buying him during the auction to be held on December 18 this year.
It all happened after Root scored his 15th Test century during the second Test of England’s ongoing tour of Sri Lanka at Kandy. In which was a game-changing second-inning hundred in tough conditions, Root ended up scoring 124 (146) with the help of 10 fours and two sixes.
While Root received accolades from all corners of the cricketing fraternity, a specific tweet from from India captain Sourav Ganguly hinted at him possibly being watched by an IPL franchise ahead of the auction. Read the tweet below:
What a performance from joe root and england on that surface ..one of the best test hundreds one will see on a pitch which is turning square .. @root66 @ParthJindal11 @ECB_cricket
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) November 16, 2018
Among the people/accounts which Ganguly had tagged in his tweet were Root, England Cricket Board and Parth Jindal, director of JSW (Jindal South West) Sports. Apparently, JSW had bought a 50% stake in Delhi Daredevils in March this year. With Ganguly supposed to be playing an advisory role for the Daredevils, the thought of the franchise bidding for Root seems highly likely.
With a base price of INR 1.5 crore, Root remained unsold in last year’s auction. Post the auction, he was quoted, “I was disappointed. The reason I wanted to go out there was to play more Twenty20 cricket; it wasn’t to go and earn as much money as possible.”
Apparently, there have been questions about Root’s position in England’s T20I team in the recent past. With the emergence of hard-hitting English batsmen, Root seldom plays in the format.
In the last 14 months or so, Root has played a mere three T20Is for England. His last T20I half-century came during the final of the ICC World Twenty20 2016 against West Indies at Kolkata.
In a bid to prove his mettle in the format, Root will be seen playing for Sydney Thunder in the imminent season of the Big Bash League, starting on the same day as that of the IPL auction.
Read some of the latest Twitter reactions on Root below:
‘He’ll just get better and better’ – The Test series win Sri Lanka will do wonders for Joe Root the captain, says Trevor Bayliss.
➡️ https://t.co/ETm54Sls7C pic.twitter.com/evAS2eyB1b
— ICC (@ICC) November 20, 2018
4⃣ Eight 4’s
6⃣ Two 6’s
💯 100 runs👏 A 15th test century for Joe Root pic.twitter.com/swydOTDyjS
— William Hill (@WilliamHill) November 16, 2018
Everyone here is writing off Joe Root , saying how poor a batsman he’s. Nope. He’s a fine batsman. And he’s the best batsman for England without any doubt , not Butler. He’s just going through a rough patch , everyone goes through that. Don’t write off class brothers.
— Sayan The VIRATIAN (@KohliWorshiper) November 15, 2018
Joe Root is one of only four active players to average over 50 runs having played at least 50 Test matches.
Steve Smith – 61.37
Virat Kohli – 54.57
Joe Root – 50.99
Kane Williamson – 50.35Elite company. pic.twitter.com/YOZaWPanmi
— bet365 (@bet365) November 16, 2018
