In a humorous story, former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that his father thought Mohammed Siraj would knock three sixes to end the game. With both sides scoring 387 in their opening innings, the third Test match between England and India at Lord’s proved to be an exciting match.
India was given a modest target after England was bowled out for just 192 in the second innings. However, India lost by 22 runs in spite of a valiant comeback spearheaded by Ravindra Jadeja and the lower-order batsmen. Ben Stokes, the captain of England, was instrumental in securing a close win for the home team with a long spell.
“Ben Stokes had a fantastic spell. I was talking to my dad about this. As he looked at Ben Stokes, he began discussing a bowler who used to bowl from both ends in his league matches, Ashwin posted on his YouTube account.
Siraj will smash three sixes to finish it, he was told. I asked him to stop making jokes.
“He was bowling at 132-140 kph in both the 9.2 and 10 overs. Jadeja was knitting India’s resistance like a fortress at one end, while Stokes was stitching the same for England at the other,” he continued.
Even though Stokes only managed 77 runs in both innings, his bowling was what really made an impression. With two significant periods of 9.2 and 10 overs, the right-arm bowler captured five wickets in the game and was instrumental in maintaining India’s pressure.
In addition, the veteran off-spinner commended Zak Crawley and Joe Root for their sportsmanship when they both comforted Siraj after his untimely dismissal. After displaying tenacity by facing thirty balls, Siraj was unluckily removed when a delivery that he had fought off the front foot hit the rough and rolled back onto the stumps.
“What a conflict. The Test match was fantastic. It was a fight between equals. It came to an end at this point as both sides were pushing one another to the maximum. Watch as Crawley and Root put an arm over Siraj to comfort him. The allure of this Test match was that all of the players were at odds with one another. “It was dramatic,” Ashwin remarked.
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