The third India vs England Test at Lord’s saw a moment of controversy on Sunday, 13 July, when Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj celebrated aggressively after dismissing Ben Duckett. Siraj was handed a fine for his actions, and former England bowler Stuart Broad questioned the ICC’s stand in punishing Siraj, while ignoring an incident where Shubman Gill swore during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy match.
On Day 4 of the Lord’s Test, Siraj took the wicket of Duckett and then brushed shoulders with the Three Lions batter, also shouting in front of his face. ICC handed the bowler a 15% match-fee fine and a demerit point for breaching Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which relates to using language, actions or gestures which provoke an aggressive reaction.
This was one of the many fiery moments during the match. Earlier, India’s captain Shubman Gill had a verbal spar with Zak Crawley, where the former allegedly used questionable language. However, he has not received any punitive action.
On Monday, former England bowler Stuart Broad took to social media to question the rationale behind the ICC punishing Siraj and not Gill, calling for “consistency” in their decisions.
“Find this ridiculous. Siraj (fined) 15% for aggressive celebration,” Broad wrote on X. “Gill swears live on tv and carries on and what? It’s either both or neither. Players aren’t and shouldn’t be robots but consistency is key.”
This is the second time that Siraj has been handed demerit points in the last 24 months. As per ICC’s guidelines, if a player accumulates four or more demerit points in that time period, it leads to match suspensions.
However, the pacer was on form for India during the match at Lord’s. Siraj’s two wickets, and a four-wicket spell from Washington Sundar ended England’s second innings at just 192, leaving India in prime position to snatch the win on the final day of the India vs England third Test.
