Watch: Root shines ball on Leach's head, hilarious video goes viral

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The first Test match between England and Pakistan is underway after Joe Root's side was hit by a viral infection ahead of the series opener. England scored a mammoth total in the first innings where four English batters scored a century. The pitch became the talk of the town when over 500 runs were scored on the first day of the match for the first time in the history of Test cricket. On Day 2 of the Test match, England got all out for 657. In the second innings, three Pakistan batsmen scored three centuries including a ton by captain Babar Azam. England captain Joe Root who was looking for quick wickets went to spinner Jack Leach not to ask him to bowl but to use his head to shine the ball. The hilarious video was posted on Pakistan Cricket Board's official Twitter handle.

Here's the video -

"Absolutely ingenious!"

Root finds a unique way of shining the ball with the help of Leach __#PAKvENG | #UKSePK pic.twitter.com/mYkmfI0lhK

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 3, 2022

After the Covid-19 pandemic, ICC banned the use of saliva to shine the ball, however, players can still use their sweat to shine the ball.

Earlier, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja has slammed the pitch used during the first Test against England, saying that it is not a "good advert for cricket" and the nation still lives in "the dark ages of pitch preparation". The Rawalpindi pitch saw England racking up a world record 506 runs on the opening day of the Test. Ramiz slammed the surface as "embarrassing" and said that it would take another season for the quality of pitches to improve. "It is embarrassing for us, especially when you have a cricketer as chairman," Ramiz said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo during the lunch break on the second day of the Test. "This is not a good advert for cricket. We are a better cricketing nation than this," he added.

The pitch quality has become a point of scrutiny, especially since Ramiz took over as PCB chief last year. He promised to bring drop-in pitches to Pakistan. But the progress on this matter has been non-existent despite all the talks around it, with Ramiz decrying the costs of shipping them from foreign countries as prohibitive. "Ultimately, the only situation is a drop-in pitch. Which is extremely expensive if we are bringing it from abroad. Instead, we are developing soil here for drop-in pitches. That way, we can prepare square turners or bouncy wickets depending on what we want," he added.