David Warner digs out Joe Root after India reveal deliberate plan to wind-up England star

The first Ashes Test is some months away but Australian great David Warner has wasted no time in throwing the first verbal jab.

It was England superstar Joe Root who was the target of Warner’s cheeky swipe, as the fiery Aussie poked fun at the former’s perceived kryptonite.

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Root was the subject of a cheeky swipe from Warner…Credit: Getty

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As the Aussie poked fun at the English icon’s susceptibility to LBWCredit: AFP

“The big anchor there is Rooty, who is yet to score a hundred in Australia,” Warner said.

Warner added: “Josh Hazlewood tends to have his (Root) number quite a lot.

“He will have to take the surfboard off his front leg.”

Hazlewood has indeed been a thorn in Root’s side for some time, having snared his wicket 10 times across 18 Tests.

The Aussie seamer’s tally is one less than his skipper Pat Cummins and Indian sensation Jasprit Bumrah, who have got Root out 11 times in Test cricket.

Hazlewood and Cummins will undoubtedly want to add to their haul of wickets against Root when the Ashes rolls around later this year, but that won’t be an easy feat.

That’s because Root is now the number one Test batter in the world, per the ICC’s rankings.

Root is also now the second all-time run scorer in Test cricket, an astonishing achievement he notched in the fourth Test against India.

The 34-year-old accomplished the feat on day three of the fourth Test, where he began in fifth on the list behind Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting.

But once it was stumps, Root had surpassed the trio and is now behind only cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, who has 15,921 Test runs to his name.

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Root was at his brilliant best in the fourth Test

Did India deliberately target Root at the Oval?

India appeared determined not to give up any more runs against the Englishman on day two of the fifth Test.

Tensions were already high leading into the final Test of the series after England skipper Ben Stokes tried to force India’s hand for a draw, only for Indian duo Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja to decline as they went on to reach centuries.

There was also a staggering confrontation between under-pressure India coach Gautam Gambhir and the Oval curator Lee Fortis, the former accusing the groundsman of having ‘no right to tell any of us what to do’.

Indian fast bowler Prasidh Krishna decided he would be the next star to sprinkle some extra spice when he poked the bear that is Root in a heated exchange at the change of overs.

Although stump mics did not pick up what was said between the two, whatever Krishna said prompted a furious reaction from the usually calm-and-collected Root.

Speaking at the end of the day’s play, Krishna revealed he did not expect Root to clap back in the furious manner he did, while admitting the tourists deliberately tried to wind him up.

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The 34-year-old was the target of verbal barbs from IndiaCredit: Sky Sports

“It was the plan [to disrupt him], but I didn’t expect the couple of words that I said to get such a big reaction out of him,” Krishna said.

“I love the guy that he is, he is a legend of the game. It’s just when two people are out there wanting to be a winner and wanting to be the best in that moment.

“It was just a small thing, the competitive edge coming out.

“Both of us are good mates off the field and it was just a bit of banter.”

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