In the Day 1 of the Ind VS Eng Test 3, Mohammed Siraj was once again targeted by a rowdy crowd to which skipper Kohli lashed out at the Headingley crowd. Siraj, the newest pace find of the Indian cricket team has been on the receiving end of racial abuse multiple times. Back in the Border-Gavaskar series, India officially raised a complaint to the match officials when Siraj was racially harassed by the Australian crowds.
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It was a truly horrific bad day at the office for Team India on August 25. After its brilliant victory against the hosts, the team was expected to continue with the same momentum. However, every day is a new day, and every Test a different one. Not only was the Indian team dismissed for a humiliating score, one of its team members also allegedly faced the misconduct of the rowdy British crowd.
Pant Breaks Silence on What Happened
According to reports, Rishabh Pant in a press conference was asked why Team India skipper Virat Kohli was visibly annoyed during the match. To this, Pant alleged that Kohli was upset as the crowd had thrown a ball at Mohammed Siraj.
Reportedly, Pant was quoted by ESPN saying, “I think, somebody threw a ball inside, at Siraj, so he [Kohli] was upset. You can say whatever you want to chant, but don’t throw things at the fielders and all those things. It is not good for cricket, I guess.”
It should be noted that neither Siraj nor skipper Kohli have filed an official complaint as of yet. Moreover, whether Siraj was directly targeted and hit or what kind of bowl was he hit with, it’s still widely speculated.
Siraj’s Australian Nightmare
Earlier this year, Mohammed Siraj was on the receiving end of racial abuse at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground. On the 4th Day of the Test series, the scenes suddenly turned sour as Siraj took to the umpires with a complaint. According to Siraj, he was racially abused by a batch of spectators behind the fine leg boundary.
The play was stopped for a few minutes and the team remained huddled. Finally, the on-ground New South Wales police officials swung into action and removed the alleged abusers.
Day 1 Review – Kohli Wins Toss, Team Loses Sight
After the comprehensive victory over the hosts in the 2nd Test, team India made its way to the ground with the same expectations. It looked like the team was going to continue on its rampage and the testament to the fact was Virat Kohli winning the toss after several ODIs and Tests.
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Indian Score Card Resembles Phone Number
However, that remained to be the only positive from the first day as after winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Skipper Kohli saw his team being bundled out at its one of the lowest ever Test total. The team’s score card looked like its batting unit had planned the score card to show a cellphone number. 19 – 0 – 1 – 7 – 18 – 2 – 4 – 0 – 8 – 0 – 3 was the scorecard of the team with the total being 78.
Only Sharma, Rahane Score in Double Digit
Not a single batsman, barring Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, could score in double digits. Meanwhile, Sharma and Rahane couldn’t score more than 20 runs themselves. To give our readers the perspective as to just how poor the batting was, team India was bundled out at 78 out of which 16 runs came from extras.
Also Read: Ind VS Eng Test 2: India Beats England by 151 Runs Thanks To Bumrah & Shami’s Heroics
The English Bowling and What’s Next for England?
The English bowlers were on fire, with all bowlers except Moeen Ali registered multiple wickets. While James Anderson and Craig Overton took 3-wickets each, Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson scalped 2 wickets.
The salt on the burn came when England returned to bat and ended the first day’s play at 120 runs without a single wicket. England has now a 42 run lead and will be eying to push India out completely by batting the 2nd and a major chunk of the 3rd day.
