“Hopefully widening the reach of cricket will continue” – Joe Root opens up on The Hundred

Joe Root believes that The Hundred is taking cricket in the right direction as it’s essential for the sport to widen its base. The England Test skipper hopes the fanfare of The Hundred will transcend into the upcoming India-England Test series.

The Hundred has taken the cricketing world by storm, drawing mixed reactions from the sport's fraternity. While a large section has enjoyed the revamped format, many believe that it’s just a compressed version of T20 and wasn’t really needed. Recently, Ian Chappell criticized the concept stating that the sport didn’t need this format.

However, Joe Root, who played two matches for the Trent Rockets last month, has given the thumbs up to the format. Earlier, Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also expressed his liking for the new format.

“Absolutely (want fans to continue flocking to the grounds for Test cricket). I have really enjoyed playing the first two games of The Hundred. I have enjoyed watching it on TV. There have been some wonderful matches. I hope it continues that way,” Joe Root told the press.

“Hopefully, widening the reach of cricket will continue. It starts off very well in that aspect in this tournament. Hopefully, fans continue to come for the Tests, which is the pinnacle format,” said the England skipper.

The Hundred is a city-based professional franchise 100-ball cricket tournament, a brainchild of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that is intended to attract younger masses.

Joe Root is out for a first ball duck, courtesy of Adil Rashid! 😲#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/p3JFKvcUYP

— The Hundred (@thehundred) July 26, 2021

The Hundred will further help women’s cricket: Joe Root

The women’s matches in The Hundred have attracted immense popularity. Taking note of the same, Joe Root believes that women’s cricket will benefit tremendously from the competition.

“Even for the women’s game, that’s going to go from strength to strength as it has done for the last couple of years. Now it’s going to go through the roof after this tournament,” notes Joe Root.

On a personal note, Joe Root’s start to The Hundred has been quite eventful. He has more wickets than runs in the competition. Turning up for the Lewis Gregory-led Trent Rockets, the England captain didn’t bat in his debut and registered a second-ball duck in the next game.

However, Root had an impressive debut with the ball, going for just 17 runs from his quota of 20 balls and claiming the wicket of Liam Dawson.

Joe Root has faced one ball from Adil Rashid in any format of professional cricket. Root c&b Rashid#TheHundred

— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) July 26, 2021