 "Akash Deep put his arm around Ben Duckett after taking his wicket in 5th Test. Reuters")
The fifth and final Test between India and England continued to be full of drama on Day 2 at The Oval. After England’s openers made a flying start with a quickfire partnership of 92 runs, India’s bowlers came back strongly to bowl them out for 247, giving England just a small lead of 23 runs.
Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj were the pick of the bowlers with four wickets each, while Akash Deep took one under his belt. But the biggest talking point, however, was what Indian pacer Akash Deep did after getting English opener Ben Duckett out .
Duckett had smashed a few boundaries, including a reverse hook six off Deep, and looked dangerous. But soon after, Akash Deep got him caught behind for 43 runs. Instead of celebrating with his teammates, Deep walked up to Duckett and put his arm around him while he was walking off the field.
Akash Deep slammed for strange celebration
This act didn’t go down well with former England players and coaches, who criticised Akash Deep in post-match reactions.
“I was just saying many in my time, a lot of players would have just dropped the elbow on him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bowler do that after getting someone out,” England batting coach Marcus Trescothick said.
“You see bowlers have many words like we’ve seen a bit in this series on both sides. But it was just different wasn’t it? I was just laughing and joking about it. Ben doesn’t really do a great deal. Put your head down and walk off, your job is done at that point. There is no need to walk him off in that fashion,” he added.
Former England captain Mike Atherton also called it “unnecessary” and asked fellow commentator Dinesh Karthik if he had seen anything like it. Karthik said he didn’t think it was the right way to behave after getting someone out, but felt Duckett didn’t react badly and maybe they knew each other personally.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“He’s given Duckett a bit of a send-off, which is probably unnecessary, but it’s the wicket that India desperately wanted. How many times did a bowler put his arm around after dismissing you, DK?” Atherton asked Karthik.
“I’m not sure if this is the right way to send off a batter, especially after you’ve got him out. Not many batters would behave the way Ben Duckett did, or rather did. It looked like they knew each other well,” Karthik replied.
There were a couple of more heated exchanges later in the day. Joe Root was involved in an altercation with Prasidh Krishna, and Sai Sudharsan gave a mouthful to Duckett after getting dismissed in India’s second innings. The finale is heating up with India looking to save the series, while England want to maintain their lead.