Former England captain Nasser Hussain showered praise on Mohammed Siraj for giving his 120% whenever he is given the ball by Indian captain, Shubman Gill. Siraj got the crucial wickets of England opener Ben Duckett and vice-captain Ollie Pope in the first hour of the fourth day’s play at Lord’s on Sunday.
While Duckett was caught by Jasprit Bumrah at mid-on, Pope was plumbed in front of the wickets by Siraj. The fast bowler returned with figures of 2-31 in 13 overs he bowled.
Siraj was pumped after dismissing Ben Duckett and also asked Shubman Gill to go for the review when Pope was given not out by the on-field umpire.
Hussain said on Star Sports, “It is (Kohli-esque passion), and that’s why he played really well under Kohli. If you fire him up and let him go, he was pumped up and adjusted his line beautifully for Ollie Pope as well. He is someone you love to have in your team because when it’s important and Indian fans are desperate for their cricketers to show passion and emotion, no one does it better than Mohammed Siraj.”
On the other hand, India ended the day’s play at 58-4 with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill and Akash Deep back in the pavilion. The visitors need another 135 runs to win with six wickets in hand. Hussain reckons currently it is 52-48 in favor of India.
“Just India, maybe 52-48 sort of game. That pitch tomorrow morning , England have to use the newish ball and hit the cracks hard,” said Hussain (via the aforementioned source).
Meanwhile, Hussain also backed Ben Stokes’ decision to remove Jofra Archer from the attack after the ace pacer could not bowl in the right areas in his opening spell.
“You don’t set a field for poor bowling, and Jofra didn’t quite get it right in that spell. He is not a machine, he has not played a Test match for four years. He didn’t quite get that new ball right and was all over the place. In general, he was full and floaty. He is that sort of cricketer, where, if it’s not right, they blame something else, and Stokes managed the situation perfectly,” he stated.
The fifth day could be a thrilling contest between India and England as both teams would look to take a lead in the series.
