"Finally Joe Root in IPL" - Twitter reacts to Rajasthan Royals signing the England batter in IPL Auction 2023

Cricket fans were chuffed to see England batter Joe Root finally bag an IPL contract with the Rajasthan Royals on Friday, December 23, in Kochi.

Root went unsold in the initial phase of the auction, but eventually found a bidder in Rajasthan Royals during the accelerated auction. The Yorkshire player was sold for his base price of INR 1 crore to mark his first IPL deal.

Root had signed up for the 2018 IPL mega auction but went unsold just like today's initial session. He played 32 T20I games for England from 2012 to 2019, with his last appearance being against Pakistan for the national side in the shortest format.

Root has scored 2083 runs in 80 T20 innings at an average of 32.54 and a strike rate of 126.70, including 13 fifty-plus scores.

After Root went unsold in the early bid session, many users shared clips of the 31-year-old playing unorthodox shots like the reverse-scoop in Test cricket. Root's shot selection sometimes resembles the modern day brand of aggressive cricket, which is contrary to his conventional strokeplay.

Twitter users appreciated Rajasthan Royals for recognising Root's value and many were excited to welcome him to the IPL. Some even guessed that the Royals had picked Root keeping the new rule of 'Impact Player' in mind.

Joe Root among nine players bought by Rajasthan Royals in IPL Auction 2023

Joe Root will join his England teammate Jos Buttler at Rajasthan Royals and will be a part of the team's leadership group alongside Buttler and captain Sanju Samson.

The 2022 IPL runners-up purchased a total of nine players, including Root, at the IPL Auction 2023 to complete their full squad of 25 players. West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder, Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa, and Tamil Nadu leg-spinner Murugan Ashwin were other prominent picks by RR in the mini-auction.

About the author

Viransh is an Indian Sports journalist, who covers Table Tennis, Hockey, Badminton, Squash and Volleyball at Sportskeeda. His BMM degree in Journalism initially paved the way for his entry into sports writing and he has around 3.5 years of professional experience.

Viransh has a knack of getting on the ground at times in search of stories, but always ensures to verify them from multiple sources and exercises patience when gathering all relevant facts for the stories presented in his articles. His methods have helped build a strong authority in his field and he has interviewed star Indian cricketer Suryakumar Yadav’s club coach Vinayak Mane, and Arjuna Award winning Table Tennis paddler Sreeja Akula.

Viransh's interest in Indian sports piqued after PV Sindhu’s silver medal win at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and was further intensified by Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He admires legendary Indian Table Tennis paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal for his grind, his achievements and his resilience. According to him, Sharath Kamal’s bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games in mixed doubles with Manika Batra paved the way for a host of emerging stars in Table Tennis.

During his free time, he consumes all forms of sports content and also watches regional Indian cinema.

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