Indian cricket team fast bowler Mohammed Siraj gave a fiery send-off after dismissing England batter Ben Duckett during Day 4 of the third Test encounter at Lord's on Sunday. Tempers were already running high in the match following the heated spat between Shubman Gill and Zak Crawley at the end of Day 3. India needed a breakthrough early in the day and Siraj combined with Jasprit Bumrah to provide it during the sixth over of the England second innings. Duckett completely miscued his shot off a length delivery and Bumrah made no mistake in completing the catch at mid-on. Siraj was visibly pumped after taking the wicket and he got into the face of Duckett in an aggressive manner before giving him a send-off.
Earlier, KL Rahul spilt the beans about the dramatic scenes that unfolded in the final moments of Day 3 of the third Test against England at the 'Home of Cricket', Lord's.
Temperaments flared, tension simmered, and emotions ran high in the final over of a gripping day of Test cricket. After India packed their bags on 387, the exact total as England, openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett were assigned the task of seeing off the testing eight to ten minutes of the day.
Before the third delivery of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah's first over, Crawley moved out of the way late, indicating that there was movement behind the bowler. Despite Crawley's suggestion, Bumrah and India captain Shubman Gill appeared to be unconvinced. Gill expressed his discontent and yelled at Crawley from the slip cordon.
On the fifth delivery, Crawley sustained a blow on the glove. He quickly removed the glove and asked the physio to have a look at it, which caused pandemonium on the field. The Indian players swarmed the English openers as Gill and Crawley engaged in a heated verbal exchange while pointing fingers at each other.
Rahul, who was present at the scene and witnessed the entire situation unfold, feels it is a part of the game. He went on to state that, as an opening batter, he understands what happened in the last five minutes on the field.
"What happened at the end is, I mean, it's just part of the game now. I mean, this is every, I understand from an opening batter's point of view. I have, I can, I know exactly what is going on, and everyone knows exactly what is going on. But an opening batter will understand completely what happened in the last five minutes," Rahul told reporters at the end of the day's play.
For many, it was the first time seeing Gill riled up, animatedly expressing his opinion. However, for Rahul, it wasn't the first instance, and he said, "Yes, I have seen him fired up. We wanted to bowl two overs. There were six minutes left. Obviously, two overs is a no-brainer that any team will bowl two overs with six minutes to go."
"It's a bit of theatrics at the end. We were all pumped up either way because we know how difficult it is for a batter to come into bat for two overs when you've been in the field all day. We were hoping we could get a wicket there," he added.
(With PTI inputs)