Stuart Broad hilariously trolls Joe Root, offers him a hand after the handshake ban

Before departing for Sri Lanka, England captain Joe Root announced that he and his teammates will not shake hands with each other over coronavirus fears. The coronavirus outbreak is fast taking a toll on sporting events across the globe. And to make sure that he and his teammates remain safe during the outbreak, Root announced that England players will refrain from shaking hands with each other.

Root said that instead of shaking hands, the players will greet each other with fist bumps. The England star’s comments came just days after the tour of South Africa where the team was hit by a series of gastroenteritis and flu problems.

“After the illnesses that swept through the squad in South Africa, we are well aware of the importance of keeping contact to a minimum and we’ve been given some really sound and sensible advice from our medical team to help prevent spreading germs and bacteria,” Root said.

“We are not shaking hands with each other, using instead the well-established fist bump, and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the anti-bacterial wipes and gels we’ve been given in our immunity packs,” he added.

Stuart Broad pokes fun at Joe Root

It looks like not everybody in England camp is taking Joe Root’s advice seriously. England pace spearhead Stuart Broad hilariously trolled his captain over his no handshake policy on the tour while being on the flight to Sri Lanka.

Broad posted footage on Twitter of himself filming a news story, which was about Root’s instructions to the England team. After showing the story, he moved the camera towards Root who was sitting behind him. Broad then hilariously offered Root his hands to shake and the latter was not at all impressed with the turn of events.

Meanwhile, England will play two Tests in Sri Lanka. Before the series, the visitors will also play a couple of practice matches. The series is a part of the ICC World Test Championship. England won 3-0 in Sri Lanka two years ago and will be looking to replicate that performance in the upcoming series. The series is starting on March 19 in Galle.