India vs England: Will Akash Deep's friendly send-off to Ben Duckett at The Oval put him into trouble?

There is no dearth of drama in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Certainly not when Ben Duckett is around. The opening batter not only bats like a limited-overs player in Tests but also wears his heart on his sleeve. Remember the confrontation with Shubman Gill on the third day of the Lord's Test? Well, this time, he is on the receiving end of an incident, although a light-hearted one.

 

After England's bowlers had cleaned up the Indian innings with just 20 added to the overnight score, Duckett along with fellow opener Zak Crawley batted as if they were playing a T20 innings, taking apart India's inexperienced attack to the cleaners. There was help for the fast bowlers with seam movement and extra bounce on offer, but Duckett and Crawley both ensured that the bowlers weren't able to hit a consistent line and length with their audaciou strokeplay. It was, however, one of those ultra-aggressive strokes that brought about Duckett's downfall.

 

The southpaw had regularly intimidated India's quicks by using his feet and employing the scoop shot to good effect. In the 13th over, Duckett's attempted for a daring reverse scoop resulted in a thin edge that was snapped up by Dhruv Jurel behind the sticks. It was a wicket that India and Deep desperately needed, and the seamer celebrated in entertaining fashion. He did a fist-pump right in front of Duckett and then put him arm around the batter as they walked a few steps together with Deep saying a few more words. However, it all seemed in good spirit with 29-year-old having a smile on his face. The sequence, though, made for box office drama, much like several other events since the Lord's Test.

 

While there seemed no obvious malice in Deep's antics after getting Duckett's wicket, the question is - will the ICC and the match referee view this with another perspective? Particularly with the needle that has been there between both sides this series. The ICC has been quite strict on bowlers celebrating their wickets, especially when they do it right in the batter's face. South Africa's Kagiso Rabada has been a repeat offender in the past while Deep's fellow teammate Mohammed Siraj has also copped fines recently. It would, however, be unfair on Deep if he is indeed given a fine for his Duckett celebration but that will be for the match referee to decide.

 

The ICC Code of Conduct interpretation has been tricky terrain for bowlers, so whether Deep gets fined or not is anybody's guess at this point.

 

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