Shubman Gill’s India had a sense of purpose when they took the field on Day 4 of the fifth and final Test against England at the Oval. As Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep made the ball talk, the fielders decided to back up their pacers by constantly chirping and getting under the skin of England batters. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is usually quite mellow in the field, decided to rattle Ben Duckett up.
As Ben Duckett played and missed off Mohammed Siraj‘s bowling, Jaiswal approached him and asked him to play some attacking shots. In the first innings, the left-handed batter had played an audacious reverse sweep off the bowling of Akash Deep, and Jaiswal stated that he wanted to see the same.
Jaiswal mocked Duckett, saying the England opener doesn’t have the natural gameplay of grinding it out, and hence, he should bring out some aggressive shots.
This constant sledging worked in India’s favour, as soon after, Duckett lost his wicket off Prasidh Krishna’s bowling. The left-handed opener walked back to the pavilion after scoring 54 runs off 83 balls, with the help of six boundaries.
Here is the conversation between Jaiswal and Duckett caught on the stump mic:
Jaiswal: This is not your game, man! Show some shots. I want to see your reverse sweep. Why are you defending?
Duckett: Later.
Jaiswal: There’s no point.
Speaking of the fifth and final Test, England resumed proceedings on Day 4 at the score of 50/1. Duckett completed his half-century, but soon after, he walked back to the hut. Mohammed Siraj, who was the pick of the Indian bowlers in the morning session, sent back England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope, putting the visitors in the driver’s seat.
However, Harry Brook walked out to the middle with some solid intent and he threw the Indian pacers off their line and length by constantly charging down the track and hitting loose deliveries for boundaries.
Siraj also committed a schoolboy error, and as a result, Brook got a reprieve. More than 100 runs were scored in the first session as the final Test is also going down to the wire.
Earlier, India set England a target of 374 after Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a century in the second innings. This was his sixth Test ton overall and fourth against England. Ravindra Jadeja, Akash Deep and Washington Sundar also smashed half-centuries.
