Root smacked his 27th ton in England's first innings of the second Test against New Zealand.
English batter Joe Root revealed why he stopped in the middle while returning to the dressing room during the Tea break on Day 3 of the ongoing second Test against New Zealand to give an autograph to his young fan.
Root is in the purple patch of his career. The former English skipper has been scoring runs for fun. His rich vein of form continued in the ongoing Test series against New Zealand.
After scoring a match-winning century in the first Test at Lord’s, he followed it up with another ton in the ongoing second Test at Trent Bridge. Root tonked 176 runs that helped his side reach close to the visitors' mammoth first innings score of 553.
Read Also: WATCH - England’s women cricketer Katherine Brunt celebrates Joe Root’s 27th ton with ‘twerk’
Not only Root is winning hearts on the field, but his heartwarming gesture on Day 3 of the ongoing match also made many applaud him. While going back to the dressing room during Tea break, he stopped midway and signed young fans’ bat. The kid was extremely elated and it was quite evident that the right-hander made his day.
Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the Day 4, Joe Root said that he saw himself in that kid as when he was 20 years old he used to wait for a long time to get signatures of Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton
"That was me 20 years ago. I used to come to Test matches and be hassling people like Nasser [Hussain] or Athers [Michael Atherton] for signatures yourself and it made my day,” Joe Root said.
Root remembered his childhood, saying had it happened to him he would be "buzzing" and he wanted to give the same feeling to the kid. The former captain feels it is his responsibility to put smiles on children's faces and promote the "greatest format of the game".
"So, any opportunity to try and put a smile on young kid's face wanting to come back and enjoy another day of Test match, Test cricket keep enjoying what is, in my opinion, the greatest format of the game is really important and a small and easy job for any of the current players to do. Really nice to see that reaction [of the kid] and 10-year-old me would have been buzzing, so anyway I can try give that to someone else then I will," he said.
Here’s the video: