After the first 18 overs of England’s second innings of the fourth and final Test at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, it is safe to say that things aren’t going the way English skipper Joe Root had imagined.

Having lost four of his top-batsmen in Zak Crawley, Dom Sibley, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes for just 30 runs, Root was struggling to find a decent batting partner on the other side of the pitch as he slowly tried to work towards chopping down the 165-lead on his squad and him.

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Little did the poor batsman know that things were going to get exponentially more uncomfortable for him, personally. 

Batting alongside middle-order hitter Ollie Pope, Root waited calmly as he defended the ball towards gully where Indian skipper Virat Kohli had positioned himself.  

Kohli collected the ball and threw it towards wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant for the match to progress further. 

Unfortunately, the unpredictable bounce of the notorious Motera pitch came into play at the worst time possible for Root, and the ball struck him right in the middle after getting some extra hops off the turf. 

Hitting the balls well, Kohli #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/2yXL7grNbf

— Spider-Verse (@Spiderverse17) March 6, 2021

As soon as the impact was made, Root flinched in agony followed by a quick and innocent smile as the Indian captain jogged towards the pitch to check on him.  

Kohli patted Root on the shoulder, apologising for the unfortunate incident. 

Pant, who was standing right next to the Englishman, also tried his best to catch the ball before it hit the batsman but his reflexes failed the both of them. 

After Kohli, the glovesman also asked his opponent if he was alright before returning to his spot. 

Even the fans of the Indian cricket team, who have been trolling the touring side for their disappointing performance in the penultimate Test, could not help but feel sorry for Root and showed a lot of empathy for him.

#INDvENG

Virat Kohli really went after the root of Joe Root with that throw https://t.co/maFHukHANJ

— Hemant Kumar (@SportsCuppa) March 6, 2021

virat threw the ball to rishabh but accidentally it hit joe root near his balls and he said virat, comeon man

— Supriyaaaa|| (@ictwndrsx) March 6, 2021

VIRAT THROWS THE BALL & HIT ROOT ALMOST ON HIS NUTS

ROOT : WHAT IS THIS VIRAT

EVERYONE LAUGHING 🤣

RAHANE : HASO MAT BHAIYOO

WHOLE COMMENTARY PANEL LAUGHING 🤣️️🇮🇳#ViratKohli #axarpatel #Ashwin #INDvsENG #ENGvIND #JoeRoot #BenStokes #WashingtonSundar #RishabhPant

— REALITY TIME INDIA (@r_t_india1947) March 6, 2021

Oye #Virat #JoeRoot ke roots toh ukhad diye abhi, b***s bhi ukhad dogey kya #INDvENG #INDvsENG #ENGvIND #INDvsENG_2021 #IndiaLegends

— SimRaaj Fernkaar (@simbytz) March 6, 2021 

Credit to Joe Root who realised that it was an honest mistake and took it lightly. 

After Pope lost his wicket off an excellent stumping effort by Pant on an Axar Patel delivery, Root ended up getting trapped for an LBW at the hands of Ravichandran Ashwin yet again. 

Following the fall of Root’s wicket, England are at 65/6 with a 100-run lead glaring their lower-middle order in the eye and an entire second innings waiting for the Men in Blue (if needed).

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