Joe Root strikes his first IPL deal as Rajasthan Royals snaps Englishman for INR 1 crore

Ace England batter Joe Root will play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he found a bidder in the closing moments of the IPL 2023 auction. The right-handed batter, who set his base price at INR 1 crore, found a buyer in the Rajasthan Royals after going unsold earlier in the day.

In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, Root expressed his interest in entering the IPL auction and feels the tournament will enable him to flourish in the shortest format moving forward.

The Yorkshire batter had said:

"I would certainly debate going into the IPL draw quite seriously and hope to get exposure in that tournament. It would be great to get involved in the continuous enormity of each game and how much it means. I always used to get rested for the T20s and I feel like I got alienated from the format because I had not played enough of it."

"You can feel like you are getting left behind a little bit. Now, the next couple of years, might be a good time to explore playing a little bit more of that format and see how far I can take that side of my game."

However, despite having decent T20I numbers the 31-year-old has struggled to find a place in the national side. In 32 T20Is, he has 873 runs at 35.72 at a strike rate of 126.30. Root was also England's leading run-getter in the 2016 World T20 in India, scoring 249 runs in six games, but last played for England in the format in 2019. It remains to be seen whether the IPL can revive his T20I career.

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Joe Root joins his England teammate Jos Buttler in Rajasthan Royals

Joe Root and Jos Buttler batting in the 2019 World Cup. (Credits: Twitter)

With Joe Root also part of the Rajasthan Royals, it will mark a union with England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler. The 32-year-old keeper-batter remains a guaranteed starter in the Royals' eleven after a stellar IPL 2022 season.

While the Royals stumbled in the final to the Gujarat Lions, Buttler took home the Orange Cap, having scored 863 runs in 17 matches at 57.73 with four centuries and four fifties.

The other players acquired by the franchise are Jason Holder, Donovan Ferreira, Adam Zampa, KM Asif, Murugan Ashwin, Akash Vasisht, and Abdul Basith.