'DSP Siraj coming to eat Shoaib Akhtar's legacy': India speedster clocks 181.6 kmph on speedgun during pink-ball Test

Broadcasters showed Mohammed Siraj to have bowled at 181.6 km/h after a presumed speed-gun malfunction at the Adelaide Oval.

India had little to smile about when Stumps were called on Day 1 of the second Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval, with the team facing a tough challenge. However, an unusual incident in the final session provided a brief moment of entertainment. As Mohammed Siraj steamed in to bowl, the speed-gun malfunctioned, displaying an unbelievable delivery speed of 181.6 kmph. This was a staggering 20 kmph faster than the current bowling speed record, leaving fans both stunned and amused by the apparent error.

Broadcasters showed Mohammed Siraj to have bowled at 181.6 km/h after a presumed speed-gun malfunction at the Adelaide Oval.(Fox Cricket screengrab)

Users on social media noticed the discrepancy between Siraj’s ball and the speed shown on broadcasts, leading to some funny reactions to the incident.

This moment occurred in the very same over as Siraj’s confrontation with Marnus Labuschagne. The Australian batter pulled out from the crease just as Siraj arrived in his delivery stride, leading to the pacer chucking the ball at the stumps out of frustration and questioning Labuschagne about what he was doing in no uncertain terms.

Replays showed the reason. Labuschagne backed out when a fan was spotted running behind the sightscreen with a stack of glasses far above his head, participating in the Australian crowd tradition of the beer snake and putting the Aussie batter off in the process.

While Siraj was evidently frustrated by the incident as he tried to deliver a pair of bouncers to Labuschagne to get his point across.

Siraj wicketless on day 1 as India fall behind

Earlier in the day, Mitchell Starc provided a scintillating performance as he returned with figures of 6-48 to run through the Indian batting within two sessions, continuing a disappointing trend of Indian batting falling apart early in Test matches.

Nitish Kumar Reddy was the lone batter who received plaudits for a counter-attacking 42 which included some sumptuous strokeplay.

While Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Usman Khawaja relatively early in the response, he and the Indian bowling weren’t able to have the same impact as in Perth, with Australia working their way to 86-1 at stumps with Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney looking more and more comfortable.