After warming benches for more than a month, RR finally give Joe Root his IPL debut

Leading England batsman Joe Root earned his maiden IPL cap ahead of the match between the Rajasthan Royals and the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday. The former England captain will try and show his prowess in the 20-over format at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Rajasthan Royals signed Joe Root at the IPL 2023 Auction, but kept him on the bench for 10 matches. The Jaipur-based franchise needed a solid player in their middle order after their embarrassing defeat at home against the Gujarat Titans. Hence, they added Root to the playing XI for the game against the Sunrisers.

Root has played 88 T20 matches in his career, scoring 2,083 runs at a strike rate of 126.7. His batting average in the shortest format of the game is more than 30, while he has recorded 13 half-centuries as well. He played a leading role in England's T20 World Cup campaign of 2016, where they reached the final and lost in the last over of the game against West Indies.

The Royals captain Sanju Samson revealed the inclusion of Joe Root in the playing XI at the toss. The prolific batter in Tests and ODIs replaced Devdutt Padikkal in the RR middle-order.

Trent Boult was missing from RR's playing XI and list of impact substitutes, with Murugan Ashwin taking his place in the team.

"This stint gives me a chance to look at the game in a different way" - Joe Root

Joe Root was dropped from the English T20 side a few years ago

Just before receiving his maiden IPL cap, Joe Root had a chat with the host broadcasters. He commented on his IPL experience so far and said:

"I'm very passionate about playing for England and it was something to play one Test match, but to have played so many is in itself special. This stint gives me a chance to look at the game in a different way. Yes, I haven't played yet, but there's a lot more that one can do to help the team out and I've done a lot of that."

Notably, Joe Root was dropped from the English T20 team a few years ago as the management felt he wasn't fitting into their plans. However, he continues to yearn for another opportunity in the T20I format. The opportunity in the IPL could be a springboard for him to stake a claim for a place in the English side.

It will be exciting to see how Root performs on his IPL debut. You can follow the live scorecard of this match right here.