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Joe Root came up with an unusual method to keep the ball shiny during England’s second Test against Pakistan in Multan.
The former captain is often the man charged with keeping the ball in good condition for this England side and he opted for an unorthodox technique in hot and humid conditions on the sub-continent.
Jack Leach’s bald head was employed by Root as the cameras caught him rubbing the ball on the top of his teammate’s bonce to ensure one side stays shiny and has a chance of swinging away from the batters.
Joe Root finding the best ways to shine the ball 🤣 pic.twitter.com/nUnI58voVI
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) October 15, 2024
Leach appeared to be entirely at ease with his head being used for an unusual purpose and the spinner had a good morning in Multan as he clean bowled Abdullah Shafique and had Shan Masood caught by Zak Crawley to take two wickets in the opening session.
Pakistan were 19-2 at that stage, although they duly rebuilt the innings with a partnership of 149 between Saim Ayub and Saud Shakeel before Ayub was finally dismissed by Matthew Potts just before tea.
Remarkably, this isn’t the first time Root has used Leach’s hairless head as a means of shining the ball, having opted for the same tactic in Pakistan two years ago.
It proved incredibly effective as England secured the first-ever whitewash of a Test series in Pakistan by triumphing 3-0 and they’ll hope to repeat the trick this time around, as they try to build on their historic victory by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test last week.
And it seems Leach’s head, as well as his bowling arm, may well hold the key to Ben Stokes’s men success.
