'Not a cricket shot' - Former Australia spinner criticises Joe Root's dismissal in second innings of first Ashes 2023 Test

Days after Australia’s thriller victory over England in the first Test of Ashes 2023, former Aussies’ spinner, Brad Hogg came up with some sharp criticism for the way Joe Root got out in the second innings of the first Ashes 2023 Test. As is evident, England are approaching the red-ball game with a fresh new approach, called ‘Bazball’, named after their current head coach, Brendon McCullum.

The new aggressive approach has clearly taken its toll on Joe Root, a batter known for calm and composure in the whites. Talking of his dismissal in the second innings, Brad Hogg said that it was an unnecessary shot that led to his dismissal. He said on his YouTube channel, He's playing a different style of cricket. The Bazball has come out we're seeing reverse-sweeps which we've never seen in Test cricket before against fast bowling. That's just sensational it's never been heard of before."

"But with the Bazball in the second innings, I just thought he was over-aggressive. The shot that he got out to Nathan Lyon was a slog. It was not a cricket shot and if he is playing T20 cricket, I would have been disappointed as the coach with that type of shot," Hogg added.

Brad Hogg was all praises for Usman Khawaja

In the same YouTube stream, Hogg praised the player of the match awardee, Usman Khawaja. Notably, Khawaja scored 141 runs in the first innings and backed it up with 65 in the second innings. Here’s what he had to say for Khawaja, “Usman Khawaja, very stodgy, batted for long periods of time. He was prepared to wear the opposition bowling attack down. He wasn't looking to go after the bowling and up the run rate. It was his batting that got Australia over the line."

"But the thing with Usman is when he is in that defensive mode, and the batsman at the other end is trying to be aggressive…He takes up too many balls and is not rotating strike enough. It just sometimes puts a little bit of pressure on his partner at the other end. That's something he's got to look at."