Lord's Test: Mohammed Siraj fined for aggressive celebrations on Day 4
Mohammed Siraj is no stranger to getting reprimanded, whether by match officials or by opposition players himself. A hugely passionate player who belongs to the Virat Kohli school of intent when on the field, Siraj loves to get under the skin of batters and while it has also backfired many-a-time, that's how the Hyderabad man plays his game.
On Sunday (July 13), Siraj added another chapter to his on-field drama episodes early on the fourth day. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley had given England a decent start to the day's play and with every run being significant on a wearing two-paced pitch, India needed a breakthrough sooner than later. That came through Siraj who was easily India's best bowler in that morning session, often beating the outside and inside edge through high quality seam bowling.
The wicket of Duckett, though, came more out of a sustained spell of tight bowling with the left-hander being shackled from both ends. Siraj kept hitting the hard length or a fraction shorter, hoping for the variable bounce to come into play. Also, the idea was to make Duckett go for his favourite pull shot, a stroke that was a double-edged sword on this kind of a pitch. That plan worked perfectly as the southpaw's attempted pull shot went up off the splice to mid-wicket where Jasprit Bumrah took the easiest of catches.
As soon as the catch was taken, Siraj set off like a man on fire and was in Duckett's face, celebrating wildly with aggressive gestures. The ICC Code of Conduct is very strict when it comes to wicket celebrations with South Africa's Kagiso Rabada often having suffered punishments in the past. This time, it was Siraj's turn as the India fast bowler has been fined 15 percent of his match fees and also handed a demerit point for his antics.
According to the Code of Conduct, the Siraj's offence fell under "language, actions or gestures" which could potentially provoke a dismissed batter to retort with an aggressive reaction.
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