Lord's, the spiritual home of cricket, witnessed rowdy fans throwing bottle corks at KL Rahul during the pre-lunch session on the third day of the second Test between England and India in London on Saturday.
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Rahul, who scored a sublime 129 in the first innings, was seen with an object that looked like a champagne bottle cork during the 69th over, bowled by Mohammed Shami.
Then, images of more such pictures flooded social media. In one post, an animated Indian skipper Virat Kohli was seen purportedly instructing Rahul to throw it outside.
English crowd throwing Champagne corks at KL Rahul just because Virat Kohli asked them where is Ben Stokes
— theshivamkapoor (@sherlony3000) August 14, 2021
People these days takes everything personally #IndvsEng pic.twitter.com/q4GfFzRQDR
Think India have complained to the umpires about the champagne cork that was thrown at KL Rahul.
— Rory Dollard (@thervd) August 14, 2021
'Mecca Of Cricket' is behaving like Bar at the moment. #ENGvIND #ENGvsIND #KLRahul #LordsTest #Lords
— Shubham Dalmiað®ð³ (@thesonofsports) August 14, 2021
Cork thrown at KL Rahul. Absolutely uncalled for @HomeOfCricket . This series has been played in the right spirit so far. #ENGvsIND
— Debasis Sen (@debasissen) August 14, 2021
#Kohli mass ðÂÂÂÂ¥ðÂÂÂÂ¥
Crowd threw something on the ground where KL Rahul is standing !
Kohli signals KL to throw it out of the ground#ENGvIND #Kohli#IndvsEng pic.twitter.com/ZjIRm3JEqj
— Gowtham ᴹᴵ (@MGR_VJ) August 14, 2021
The game was briefly halted as Indian players were seen talking to umpires Michael Gough and Richard Illingworth. But it couldn't be confirmed whether this was just about an informal way of drawing the umpire's attention or a formal complaint.
Earlier this year, the Indian team faced racist taunts during their tour of Australia where Mohammed Siraj was abused and that led to the eviction of spectators from the Sydney Cricket Ground during the New Year's Eve.
In fact, the Indian team had lodged an official complaint with match referee David Boon back then, who had given them an option to walk out.
(With PTI inputs)