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Siraj inconsolable, Jadeja shattered after India's heartbreak at Lord's; Root, Stokes forget beef to go lift them up
Not exactly known for his batting, Mohammed Siraj put his heart and soul into the 30 balls that he faced for four runs on Monday.
Mohammed Siraj was on his knees. Head down. Bat rooted to the ground. After hours of fighting, fending away bouncers directed at his body, gulping down all the sledgeing from the England fielders and booing of the crowd, the event that brought an end to Siraj's vigil and India's hopes of a remarkable come-from-behind victory was an off-spinner from Shoaib Bashir that trickled onto the India pacer's stumps after he had defended it successfully.
The poster of heartbreak, if you are in the Indian camp. If you are Shoaib Bashir, bowling and fielding with a possibly broken left hand, and the fired-up, turned-tired England team, it was destiny.
Test match cricket, you beauty and all that. Sure, it was. And all of this had to happen at Lord's. Who was planning all this? Who has ever written the scripts of Test match cricket?
It was wonderful to see Zak Crawley, Harry Brook and Joe Root walk up to Siraj and help him get back on his feet with a handshake and a pat on the back. The same Brook and Root, who were sledged by Siraj. The same Brook and Root who left no stones unturned to give it back to India and Siraj when it was their turn to field on Day 5. Zak Crawley also walked in to console Siraj.
England captain Ben Stokes was not too far behind in trying to congratulate and console Siraj. He thumped Siraj's chest and told him to keep his chin up. Five days of hard-fought cricket that took a fiery turn after Day 3 was forgotten. Gentleman's Game for a reason.
"You would need a crane to take Siraj off the field," said former India head coach Ravi Shastri.
Not exactly known for his batting, Siraj put his heart and soul into the 30 balls that he faced for four runs on Monday. But it wasn't to be. Bashir got one to kick from a length, which was, mind you, handled pretty well by Siraj on the backfoot but the back spin did him. It had enough zip on it to knock down the bail on top of the leg stump. And with that, India were bowled out for 170 in their second innings. England won by 22 runs to take a 2-1 lead.
The scenes had similarities with the Ashes Test at Edgbaston 20 years ago. Replace Siraj and Australia pacer Mike Kasprowicz and put Andrew Flintoff in place of Joe Root. Australia needed three runs when he was caught down the leg side while trying to fend off a Steve Harmison delivery. Brett Lee, at the other end, was on his haunches, just like Siraj was.
The setting definitely had similarities with India's terrific win against Australia in 2010 in Mohali. VVS Laxman knocked off more than 90 runs batting with Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha to give India a one-wicket win.
Joe Root consoles Ravindra Jadeja
Spare a thought for Ravindra Jadeja. The fan batted, batted and batted. He even sacrificed his customary sword swing celebration after reaching his half-century with a boundary -- when did that happen the last time? Such was the seriousness of the situation. Coming in to bat at No.7, Jadeja batted more than a session with Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj to get India believing. The all-rounder was left stranded at the other end unbeaten on 61 off 181 balls.
After shaking with Siraj, Root did the same with Jadeja. He had a few words with him, possibly saluting the Indian all-rounder's effort to keep India in the game and give England a serious scare.
