Picture Credit: Twitter
For when the cricket experts and fans think they have seen it all, the sport of cricket comes up with a twist. That's exactly the reason the game is greater than each of its stakeholders put together. A similar story unfolded during the ongoing second Test match of the five-match series between England and India at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in London.
While almost everybody believed Rishabh Pant's wicket would determine which way the match would go on the final day of the Test with India 6 wickets down, leading by over 150 runs, Pant departed early. However, it was Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, both of whom are not recognised batters by any stretch of the imagination, who made an invaluable contribution to Team India's total after they had lost two wickets early on Day 5.
What added to the drama of a riveting day of Test cricket was the emotions and passion of the cricketers involved. While Bumrah was banging in short against James Anderson earlier in the match, the Three Lions thought it best to return the favour back to the Indian bowlers when they came out to bat. Bumrah even got hit on the helmet twice once by Anderson himself but continued to bat.
Bumrah even had a heated exchange with English players, Mark Wood and Jos Buttler in particular. The exchange seemed to have spiced up not only the contest but even brought out the best from the duo.
Check out the video of the incident here:
The duo has already added 77 runs for the ninth wicket and taken India to a lead of 259 runs as the lunch has been taken. It remains to be seen when captain Virat Kohli decides to declare or whether he waits for the remaining two wickets to the fall before taking the field again to try and pick 10 wickets in the remaining overs. Given that bad light could be a factor, Kohli might be prompted to make the declaration early.
Following the exchange and the batting performances of Shami and Bumrah that followed, Twitter has received all kinds of reactions.
Here are some of the best reactions: