Former England cricketer Nasser Hussain has said that one of the highlights of the Lord’s Test against India was the way the visitors went at Zak Crawley, after there was a deliberate delaying tactic from the England opener at the end of Day 3, which didn’t go down well with the Indian players.
The Indian camp was rattled by England’s time-wasting tactics during the final minutes of the third day.
Despite the foul language being recorded on stump mic and India skipper Shubman Gill even making an obscene gesture, it was Siraj who came under the scanner and was fined by the ICC after the Test.
As Siraj dismissed Ben Duckett, both cricketers had a small shoulder barge, which drew boos from the English fans in the stadium.
“One of the highlights of the Test, the way India went at Crawley. They (England openers) started 90 seconds later than they should have! They were very street-smart in the way they slowly walked down the stairs, pretending to get lost in the long room,” Hussain said while speaking on Sky Sports.
“Then, Siraj was fired up. I think he’s a better cricketer when he’s fired up. You’d love to have Siraj on the side. I didn’t think he should’ve been fined. He went close to the line, he was right in Duckett’s face, he didn’t barge at Duckett,” Hussain added.
“If anything, Duckett went in that direction to get off the pitch. It wasn’t a shoulder barge. I think it’s a game of emotions and you don’t need 22 robots. I love the tension,” Hussain said.
Siraj, who took four wickets in the Test, was found guilty of breaching Article 2.5 of the ICC’s Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match”.
Siraj gave Duckett a fiery send-off and brushed shoulders with the opener after dismissing him for 12 runs in England’s second innings on Sunday.
England were all out for 192 in 62.1 overs. India, who ended the day at 58/4 on day 4, are 135 runs away from victory but eventually lost.
