The final session on Day 3 at Dhaka’s Shere Bangla National Stadium during the match between Bangladesh and India was filled with drama. Virat Kohli had a heated exchange with Bangladesh players after they celebrated in his face during Bangladesh spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s run through the India top order in the second and final Test match.
The former India captain was enraged, and reporters wanted to know what had happened in the middle. And India pacer Mohammed Siraj had the most amusing response to the incident.
It happened in the 20th over’s penultimate ball. Mehidy got one to land on good length after observing Kohli’s strategy of stepping forward to defend spin deliveries. Kohli stuck to his plan, and the ball hit the bat and dropped towards the short leg, but fielder Mominul was alert enough to complete the catch, displaying excellent reflexes.
Despite the incident, cameras were unable to capture the exact moment that sparked Kohli’s furious reaction, so when Siraj gave his press conference at the end of Day 3, a reporter asked him about it. He replied saying, “To be honest, uss time mein ice bath le raha tha. I swear mujhe nehi pata kya huya tha uss time (I was taking an ice bath at that moment. So I did not see what happened then).
I feel we shouldn’t think too much now: Mohammed Siraj
Speaking of the game, India was reduced to 45 for four, with Mehidy taking three of those wickets at the end of Day 3. The tourists needed 100 runs more, but Siraj was confident that one set batter could lead the team to victory on Sunday.
“I feel we shouldn’t think too much now because we have lost just four wickets. We need around 80 (100) or so. We need just one batter to get set, Axar is showing right intent. Yes, we lost two wickets extra but Axar is set, he is showing good intent. We also have Rishabh (Pant) and Shreyas (Iyer) after that, so we shouldn’t think too much,” he said.
As it turns out, India lost a few early wickets on day four, putting them in all sorts of trouble. They lost Jaydev Unadkat, well-set Axar Patel, and Rishabh Pant for a team score of 74 while chasing a target of 145 runs.
