England’s Joe Root discovered a new way to shine the ball during the opening Test match against Pakistan by rubbing the red cherry all over left-arm spinner Jack Leach’s head.

Cricket players can only use their sweat to shine the cricket ball. As the International Cricket Council (ICC) has forbidden the use of saliva. The finest body parts for players to impart sweat on the ball have been their palms and foreheads. However, Joe Root discovered yet another fantastic source of sweat for England on Day 3 of the first Test between Pakistan and England. That source was the head of spinner Jack Leach.

Leach, who doesn’t have the richest hair on his head, was observed remaining motionless as Root rubbed the cricket ball all over his head in an effort to capture every drop of sweat. Cricket fans were in splits, though, as the sight turned out to be hilarious.

Here’s the video, where Joe Root was seen using a new technique of shining the red-cricket ball, which left the fans in splits.

“It’s classic. It’s ingenious, it’s absolutely ingenious, because you are no longer allowed to use saliva. Tests have apparently proven that sweat is much more effective in shining the ball than saliva – a relic of the Covid days. But I never thought of using that particular scalp as a way of sourcing the shine,” said commentator, David Gower.

It took place in Pakistan’s innings’ 73rd over. England, which was in desperate need of wickets, handed the ball to Ollie Robson. In the meantime, while the medium pacer was handing the umpire his jumper, Root began polishing the ball on Jack Leach’s head.

After providing his assistance to the team, Leach was spotted heading back to the pavilion.

Leach has taken two wickets in Pakistan’s innings.

PAK Vs ENG 1st test update:

During the opening hour of play on day four, Pakistan added another 80 runs before being bowled out for 579. England was still ahead of them by 78 runs.

Their bowlers also got the second innings off to a strong start. They got rid of the top-3 England’s batters, who all had hundreds in the first innings.

At the time of writing this, England were 96 for 3.

Earlier, England posted a mammoth total of 657, courtesy 4 spectacular centuries by English batters.

Interestingly, all the four centurions scored runs with a 100-plus strike rate. Their knocks helped England to cross 500-run mark on the opening day of the first test and also to set a new world record.

Harry Brook scored the most runs for England in 1st innings, with 153 off 116. While the skipper of Pakistan recorded the highest runs for his side (136).

Will Jacks is the only bowler so far in the test, who has bagged a 5-wicket haul.