“Can’t play off-spinners from Yorkshire” - Michael Vaughan trolls India after Joe Root's five-for
Former England captain Michael Vaughan took a dig at India’s batsmen after Joe Root ran through the hosts’ batting lineup with exceptional figures of 5 for 8 off 6.2 overs on Day 2 of the pink-ball Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Resuming the day at 99 for 3, India crumbled to 145 all out in 53.2 overs on a pitch offering prodigious turn for a second-day surface. The hosts did eke out a slender 33-run first-innings lead, though.
Trolling the Indian batsmen for failing to stand up to the part-time off-spin of England captain Joe Root, Vaughan wrote:
“Indian batsman can’t play off spinners from Yorkshire !! #INDvENG”
Joe Root happens to represent Yorkshire in England’s county cricket.
After Jack Leach snared the big wickets of vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (7) and half-centurion Rohit Sharma (66), Joe Root picked up the last five wickets to wrap up the Indian innings.
Joe Root began his demolition act by having wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant caught behind for one. He then knocked over Washington Sundar (0) with an off-break.
When bowling hero and local boy Axar Patel (0) was caught at short extra cover, Joe Root had three wickets to his name without conceding a run.
Ravichandran Ashwin (17) then became Joe Root’s fourth wicket when the batsman tried to hoick across the line but only managed to hit one straight up in the air.
The England captain completed a richly-deserved five-for when he trapped last-man Jasprit Bumrah leg before for one.
While Joe Root was the star performer for England with the ball, Jack Leach was also brilliant, producing impressive figures of 4 for 54 in 20 overs.
Joe Root emulates Bob Willis
With his five-for in Ahmedabad on Thursday, Joe Root became the first England captain to take a five-wicket haul in a Test match since Bob Willis in 1983; Willis had claimed 5 for 35 against New Zealand.
Joe Root's figures are also the fourth-best by an England captain in Test history.
Furthermore, Joe Root’s 5 for 8 is the cheapest five-wicket haul in Tests by a spinner apart from being the second-most economical five-for by a captain, the most economical being 6/7 by Arthur Gilligan for England against South Africa in 1924.
Meanwhile, England continued to struggle against Axar Patel, as both Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow departed for ducks in the first over of the visitors' second innings.
Dom Sibley also fell to the left-arm spinner before Joe Root and Ben Stokes managed to wipe off the first-innings deficit.