Mohammed Siraj's aggressive celebration after dismissing Ben Duckett on Day 4 of the Lord's Test sparked controversy. Indian pacers dominated, putting England under pressure with crucial wickets.
Team India pacer Mohammed Siraj did not shy away from showing his aggression after dismissing Ben Duckett on Day 4 of the ongoing third Test in the five-match series against England at Lord’s on Sunday, July 13.
England resumed their second innings batting with an overnight total of 2/0, with Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley batting on 2 and 0. Day 3 of the Lord’s Test had an intense end, with tempers flaring between Shubman Gill and Zak Crawley over the England opener’s deliberately wasting time and tactically disrupting the rhythm of Jasprit Bumrah, who was at his menacing best in the final over of the day.
Given the intense Day 3 of the third Test, the cricketing world was eagerly watching how Day 4 would unfold, as both sides would look to assert their dominance over each other amid rising tensions and high-stakes pressure at Lord’s.
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Siraj’s fiery send-off to Duckett
The England openers were quite undeterred by what happened on Day 4 as they were focusing on building the partnership. Jasprit Bumrah delivered a fiery spell to Zak Crawley, who injured his hand again off one of his deliveries. As Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley were hoping for a strong partnership until the former was dismissed by Mohammed Siraj.
On the fifth delivery of the sixth over of England’s second innings batting, Duckett attempted to heave pull down the ground of Siraj’s back of a length outside off delivery, but was caught by Jasprit Bumrah at mid-on. Mohammed Siraj turned into aggressive mode as he celebrated the wicket on the face of the England opener and brushed his shoulder, not sure if it was intentional.
The video of the same was posted by Sony Sports on its X handle (formerly Twitter) and soon went viral on social media.
It was the third wicket of the match for Mohammed Siraj as he picked up two wickets of Jamie Smith (51) and Brydon Carse (54) in the first innings, helping Team India to bundle out the hosts for 387.
After dismissing Ben Duckett, Siraj removed Ollie Pope for 4 by trapping him with LBW. The on-field umpire was given not out, which prompted Shubman Gill to take DRS. nd the review turned out to be spot on, with ball-tracking confirming three reds, handing Siraj his second wicket of the innings.
Pacers put India on top on Day 4
Indian pacers, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Akash Deep were at their fiery best, putting England on the back foot with relentless pressure and hostile spells. The quartet exploited the Lord’s overcast conditions to perfection.
After Mohammed Siraj gave India two breakthroughs by dismissing Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope, Nitish Kumar Reddy struck his first wicket of the innings by removing struggling Zak Crawley for 22 at 50/3. After Crawley’s dismissal, Harry Brook joined Joe Root at the crease to carry on England’s innings.
Brook and Root were looking to form a solid partnership and rescue the hosts from a shambolic situation until Akash Deep dismissed the former for 23 at 87/4. This further put England under pressure as the hosts assumed their second innings batting without a lead from their first-innings total.
At the end of first session, England posted a total of 98/4 after 25 overs, with Joe Root and skipper Ben Stokes batting on 17 and 2, respectively.
