'Feeling bad for Joe Root' - Twitter sympathizes with former England skipper after going unsold in first round of IPL auction

Former England Test skipper Joe Root could not find any suitable buyers in the IPL 2023 auction as he went unsold in the first round of bidding. Root, who went unsold in the 2018 auction, had expressed his desire to ply his trade in the cash-rich league earlier this year. The English batting ace has been a feature for the Test side since making his debut for the national team but wanted to explore franchise cricket after relinquishing his captaincy role earlier this year.

None of the participating teams were interested in capturing the signature of the former Test skipper, who was recently signed by Dubai Capitals for the inaugural edition of the International League T20, commencing in January next year. His association with GMR Group-owned Dubai Capitals also linked him with their sister club Delhi Capitals, but they did not chance their arm on the English cricketer with a base price of INR 1 crore.

Apart from the ILT20 stint set to commence next year, Root has appeared for Sydney Thunder in BBL 2018-19. He had expressed his desire to play the franchise leagues in the upcoming months as he felt alienated from the format due to his responsibilities with the national team in the longest format of the game. 

"I have no thoughts or feelings of retirement or slowing down or playing fewer formats. If anything, I feel a little bit more freedom with my time. I always used to get rested for the T20s and I feel like I got alienated from the format because I had not played enough of it. You can feel like you are getting left behind a little bit. Now, the next couple of years might be a good time to explore playing a little bit more of that format and see how far I can take that side of my game," Joe Root said last month.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Joe Root going unsold in the first round of the IPL auction

Joe root's 2016 world cup is too underrated imo

— ` (@Rohits_warrior_) December 23, 2022

Joe root again unsold. The player is much better than many mediocre players playing IPL.

— Shobhit Kukreti (@KukretiShobhit) December 23, 2022

Sad to see Joe Root going unsold year after year,he is a good batter obviously and can also play at a decent strike rate in T20 cricket #IPL2023Auction

— Aditya (@CAA_256) December 23, 2022

Feeling bad for Joe Root. Ek Season banta tha yar

— Avinash Aryan (@AvinashArya09) December 23, 2022

Joe Root is the second Englishman out the hat and goes unsold - though could still get a deal later

— Matt Roller (@mroller98) December 23, 2022

Joe Root found no buyer for now. He will be available to buy later. #IPL2023 | #IPL2023Auction | #IPL2023

— Cric11Future (@Cric11Future) December 23, 2022

Har saal unsold jaane ke liye aajata hai Joe Root

— Harshwardhan Patil (@hharshhhhh) December 23, 2022

Har saal unsold jaane ke liye aajata hai Joe Root

— Harshwardhan Patil (@hharshhhhh) December 23, 2022

Joe Root is unsold, it hurts than this pic.twitter.com/Yp0wKep3rP

— Savage (@arcomedys) December 23, 2022

No bidders for Joe Root 😂😂😂😂
Bazball not working 😂

— SoN! 🦋💫 || Ignore & Fly 😌🥂 (@fanatic_devil16) December 23, 2022

#IPL2023Auction @IPL Joe root is unsold. Thank you franchisee for ruining cunning root plan to play in India before 2023 wcup...

— TANISHQ ABHI GUPTA (@tanishqgupta437) December 23, 2022

So, Kane Williamson and Ajinkya Rahane can get a team in #IPL2023Auction but not Joe Root. 💀#IPL #IPLAuction #IPL2023

— Maddy (@EvilRashford) December 23, 2022