Dubai Capitals rope in Joe Root ahead of inaugural ILT20 League

Dubai Capitals have roped in former England Test captain Joe Root for the inaugural edition of the International T20 League. After staying away from franchise cricket for quite some time, the 31-year-old is looking to find his mojo back in limited-overs and thus signed for the franchise to try his luck as an all-format player all over again. 

The middle-order batter is not a part of England’s T20 set-up at the moment but is eyeing to make a comeback. Root has also registered for the upcoming IPL 2023 mini-auction and will go under the hammer at a base price of INR 1 crore. 

Now after signing for their sister franchise, it is expected that Delhi Capitals may show some interest as well and hand over Root his first contract in the lucrative tournament. The auction is scheduled to take place on December 23 in Kochi and now all the attention will be on Root, who has registered for the first time in many years.

The consistency that we were 𝙍𝙊𝙊𝙏-ing for 🔥

Joe, you definitely know everything when it comes to 🏏

Welcome, @root66 🙌#ILT20 #ALeagueApart #DubaiCapitals #SoarHighDubai #WeAreCapitals #CapitalsUniverse #GMRGroup #GMRSports @ILT20Official pic.twitter.com/idaprLnHmb

— Dubai Capitals (@Dubai_Capitals) December 22, 2022

Root’s number in T20 cricket 

Joe Root has played 88 T20 matches in his career and scored 2083 runs at a strike rate of 126.70. The Englishman averages 32.54 in the shortest format of the game and also picked up 22 wickets at an economy of 8.56. 

In international cricket, he featured in 32 T20Is and scored 893 runs at a strike rate of 126.30. He also picked up six wickets in the process. Now, in T20 cricket where every franchise looks for a valuable all-rounder, Root can be an asset in the shortest format of the game.

Other than the 31-year-old, Dubai Capitals also signed Rovman Powell, Dushmantha Chameera, Hazratullah Zazai, Fabian Allen, Mujeeb Ur Raman, Sikandar Raza, Niroshan Dickwella, Dasun Shanaka, Bhanuka Rajapaskha, Dan Lawrence, Blessing Muzarabani, Isuru Udana, George Munsey and Fred Klaassen ahead of the new season.