Meet Joe Root: The man who will laugh harder when the cricket ball hits you hard

Joe Root experienced deja vu during the 5^th ODI versus Pakistan

Picture the following scenario – you are a batsman in the middle of an innings facing a top class fast bowler and suddenly miss one middle-heighted delivery, which hits you straight in your groin. Ouch!!! That would hurt, right? Following this, you would wish for a teammate to come running and comfort you. Sadly, if you are Ben Stokes and your teammate is Joe Root, nothing of that sort is going to happen. You will see Joe Root laughing far in the corner, the pavillion or maybe right next to you as well.

This is not a work of fiction but a real scenario that took place yesterday in the 5^th ODI between England and Pakistan at Cardiff. Having already won the series,  England were fairly relaxed and had rested some of their players. Ben Stokes was batting on 44 when the first ball of the 37^th over, which was bowled by Umar Gul, stayed a bit low and hit his abdomen after tacking a thick bottom edge of his bat.

You would expect some sort of empathy and consoling from even opponents but Joe Root, Stokes’ teammate, burst out laughing, as if he were watching a Charlie Chaplin film. Here is what happened:

Joe Root could not control his laughter and made no attempt to do that whatsoever. Twitterati were quick to remind that the English batsman had done this in the past as well, the only difference being that on the previous occasion, the teammate was Alastair Cook and England were fielding. It is quite strange that irrespective of the times we play or watch cricket in, this one category of incidents always gives rise to humour for everyone but the person who gets hit.

Pic1: Joe Root's reaction after Ben Stokes' OUCH moment
Pic2: Joe Root's reaction after Alastair Cook's OUCH moment pic.twitter.com/pvuuN2T8yY

— Garima Srivastava (@Cricket_Panda) September 4, 2016

The incident involving Alastair Cook took place during the first Ashes Test Match in July 2015 and the English captain was fielding in the slips when a ball bounced in front of him and hit where it should not have done so. Root, while trying to comfort his teammate, could not stop laughing then either.

Joe Root laughs as Alastair Cook reacts after being hit by a bal

The above photograph shows exactly why you would not want Joe Root as your teammate if you get hit and it is agonisingly painful.