“Utter rubbish piers,” Michael Vaughan calls out Joe Root for poor performance in India tour as Piers Morgan defends him

Joe Roor has not had a good time with the bat in this series, which has not made Michael Vaughan happy.

“Utter rubbish piers,” Michael Vaughan calls out Joe Root for poor performance in India tour as Piers Morgan defends him

Michael Vaughan and Piers Morgan had differing opinions on Joe Root's dismissal in the third Test (Images via ESPN and Reuters)

Joe Root is regarded as one of the best Test batters in the world. Before the introduction of Bazball, he was the only batter that stood up while his teammate lost their wickets. After the introduction of Bazball, he has still been one of England’s best batters, but it looks like he lost a bit of form. 

So far in the India tour, he has scored only 65 runs in 5 innings, with an average of 13. During the third Test in Rajkot, he went to play one of his iconic reverse ramps to Jasprit Bumrah, but instead put the ball in the hands of Yashasvi Jaiswal at 2nd slip. This happened just five overs into the day. 

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To defend him, English Journalist Piers Morgan wrote that the game is evolving. Morgan believed the game is evolving, and anyone who believes in the traditional style of Test cricket should “give their traditional old wizened heads a massive wobble”. He called Bazball ugly, but brilliant and scintillating to watch. 

This defense did not make former England captain, Michael Vaughan very happy. He claimed his defense was “utter rubbish“. He opined Root should’ve played according to the situation. Vaughan further claimed Root was “far too good to gift India such a cheap wicket” and criticized him for losing his wicket so early in the day. 

Ravi Shastri takes dig at Joe Root as his poor form continues 

Joe Root has been used as a spinner throughout the India tour, with his off-spin picking up seven wickets so far. So far in the series he has bowled 94 overs in six innings, which is also more than runs scored. That was noticed by commentator and former India head coach, Ravi Shastri, who decided to mock the English batter on-air. 

Joe Root Ravi Shastri
Joe Root was not spared by the witty Ravi Shastri (Images via ESPN)
Joe Root has bowled 89 overs in this Test series, which is more than the runs he scored
Ravi Shastri on Joe Root’s series

At the end of Day 3 of the Rajkot Test, India has the upper hand. Despite Ben Duckett’s impressive start to the innings, India bowled out England for 319 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored his 2nd ton of the series, while Shubman Gill scored a half-century. India go into the 4th day with a lead of 322 runs. 

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