Ashwin revela que seu pai acreditava que Siraj “terminaria o teste de Lord, esmagando 3 seis”

Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that his father had backed Mohammed Siraj to finish off the Lord’s Test in style for India. England took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series after handing India a 22-run defeat in the IND vs ENG 3rd Test at Lord’s. Siraj was the last batter to depart as both him and Ravindra Jadeja failed to take India across the line.

“Cut down the jokes”

In a video on his YouTube channel, Ashwin heaped praise on Ben Stokes for bowling an unbelievable spell at Lord’s. He claimed that his father had firmly believed that Siraj would finish the match for India by smashing three sixes. Ashwin credited Stokes for steering the match in England’s favour, noting that he was putting up the same resistance that Jadeja had been doing for India.

“Ben Stokes bowled an unbelievable spell. I was discussing this with my father. He was assured that Siraj would finish it by smashing three sixes. I was asking him to cut down the jokes. Looking at Ben Stokes, he started talking about a bowler from his league games, who used to bowl from both ends,”  Ashwin said.

India needed 192 runs to win the 3rd Test at Lord’s to take a 2-1 lead in the series. The batters found it extremely difficult to bat and thrive on a surface that favoured the bowlers on Day 5. Jadeja, who stayed unbeaten on 61 runs, was the only Indian batter to taste success in the 2nd innings. Stokes picked up three crucial wickets to ensure victory for England and was named the Player of the Match.

“In both spells of 9.2 and 10 overs, he was bowling at 132-140 kph. At one end, you had Jadeja, standing like a fortress, stitching India’s resistance and on the other, you had Stokes doing the same for England,” Ashwin added.