In the fourth innings of the first Test of the current England-India series, Mohammed Siraj was furious at Yashasvi Jaiswal for dropping Ben Duckett on the fifth delivery of the 39th over. Duckett was on 97 at the time. By doing this, Jaiswal set an unwelcome record for the joint-highest amount of Indian Test-match catches in history.
Siraj hit the left-handed batter with a well-directed short ball.
Duckett received a large top edge because he lost control of the draw shot. Despite diving forward with both hands, Jaiswal was a little sluggish to get off the blocks from the deep rearward square-leg and ultimately spilt the ball. Siraj expressed his annoyance. Gautam Gambhir was sitting thoughtfully in the dugout, his face grim.
Take a look at this post:
ALMOST… 😕#MohammedSiraj was nearly rewarded for his inspired bowling spell, but #YashasviJaiswal dropped #BenDuckett on 98* 😱
Will he find the much-needed breakthrough for #TeamIndia soon? 👀#ENGvIND 1st Test, Day 5 | LIVE NOW | Streaming on JioHotstar 👉… pic.twitter.com/cNWfeYNqRh
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 24, 2025
In the very next over, Duckett took advantage of the situation and reached his tonne. He perfectly reverse-sweeped the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. The ball sprinted to the other side. By pumping the air and removing his helmet to enjoy the cheers from the Headingley fans, Duckett demonstrated how joyous the situation was for him.
Since Alastair Cook’s undefeated 109 against Bangladesh in 2010, Duckett’s outstanding score was also the first century by an English opening batsman in the fourth innings of a Test. His 14th boundary of the innings was the one stated above. By then, he had scored 102 of England’s 176 total points. India appeared to be at a loss for what strategies to use against the first pair.
Due to the intense drizzle, the umpires decided to halt play five balls into the 41st over of the innings. After leaving the pitch, the players left. It was only a 12-minute interruption, though. With Duckett and Zak Crawley playing well together in the middle, England was 181/0 at the end of 41 overs.