Follow Us
Mohammed Siraj faced offensive chants from English spectators at Old Trafford due to his expensive bowling spell. India faces a challenging 311-run deficit after England's substantial first-innings total.
Team India pacer Mohammed Siraj was mocked by a section of the English crowd on Day 4 of the ongoing fourth Test in the five-match series against England at Old Trafford on Saturday, July 26.
After being hard done by England batters, especially skipper Ben Stokes (141) and Joe Root (150), Team India finally managed to bundle out the hosts for 669 on the penultimate day and was handed a massive 311-run trail to overcome in their second innings, putting them under immense pressure heading into the final stretch of the Manchester Test.
India’s bowling was sub-par, with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar conceding over 100 runs in their respective spells, which allowed England batters to dominate the proceedings and build a mammoth first-innings total with minimal resistance, leveraging the lack of sustained pressure from the Indian bowling attack.
Related Articles
The English Crowd shows no mercy to Siraj
Amid India’s shambolic bowling in the first innings of the Manchester Test, Mohammed Siraj was subjected to an offensive chant by a section of the English crowd who were present for the ongoing fourth Test at Old Trafford.
In a video that went viral on social media, Siraj can be seen fielding near the boundary rope when he was spotted by English spectators from the stands. As soon as they saw the Indian pacer standing near the boundary, a group of English spectators chanted loudly, mocking Mohammed Siraj for his abysmal bowling.
“He bowls to the left, he bowls to the right, Mohammed Siraj is always sh*te,” the English crowd heard chanting together. The derogatory rhyme was aimed at ridiculing the Indian pacer for his wayward bowling in the first innings.
Mohammed Siraj was not at his best as he struggled to consistently bowl at the right line and length and was quite erratic throughout his spell. Siraj picked the wicket of Chris Woakes, but conceded 140 runs at an economy rate of 4.70 in his spell of 30 overs.
This was the most expensive spell of his Test career, surpassing 2/122 against England in the first Test of the ongoing series at Headingley in Leeds.
India aim to overtake a massive first-innings deficit
India assumed their second innings with a 311-run deficit from the first innings of the Manchester Test. In the first innings, the visitors were bundled out for 358, and England capitalised fully with the bat to post a mammoth 669, leaving India with a steep challenge to avoid an innings defeat.
As the visitors resumed their batting, they received early setbacks with two consecutive dismissals of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan, who were removed for a duck by Chris Woakes in an opening over of the second innings, and India were 0/2 in 0.5 overs.
After Sudharsan’s dismissal, skipper Shubman Gill walked out to bat and joined KL Rahul at the crease. The pair steadied India’s ship following early setbacks and took the team past the 50-run mark. Gill took on the England bowling attack with a calculated counter-attack approach and completed fifty before Tea break.
At the end of the second session, India posted a total of 86/2, with Shubman Gill and KL Rahul batting on 52 and 30 and trailing by 225 runs to England’s first-innings lead of 311.