IND vs BAN | Twitter erupts as chirpy Siraj turns up the heat by giving Shanto true test of grit

Arijit Kundu

ByArijit Kundu, SportsCafe Editor

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Test cricket is often labeled with the ‘test of life’ and the virtues required to succeed. Najmul Hossain Shanto, the Bangladeshi captain had a taste of it as Mohammed Siraj spiced up the contest with ruthless sledging in the morning session of the fourth day in the first Test in Chennai.

Aiming to scalp the last six wickets of the Bangladesh innings on the fourth day, Indian bowlers toiled hard as Najmul Hossain Shanto and Shakib Al Hasan stood in their way. The overnight batters withstood their ground until the first Drinks Break before the introduction of local lad, Ravichandran Ashwin opened up the game for the Men in Blue. However, the first hour was not easy for the southpaw pair to handle as Siraj’s opening spell was filled with not just bowling skillset but also ruthless aggression.

Following a denial of bowling spin due to bad light at the dusk of the third day, the Hyderabad bowler resumed proceedings on the fourth day in his usual way. After warming up with a few overs, Siraj was seen starring down at Shanto on the fourth ball of the 46th over when the left-hander extracted a four off a short ball with a swivel pull. As the ball beat the outside edge around the channel on the next delivery, the pacer went up to Shanto and covered his mouth with the elbow in exchange for a few words. The incident was followed with a few more segments in the same spell where Siraj was seen gesturing to play the ball after  Shanto’s outside edge was beaten by a whisker on the fifth ball of the 50th over. 

Siraj is well-known for his aggressive play and Shanto’s no-frills approach was the talk of the town as the batter responded with a smile to the heat, leaving the Twitterverse abuzz.War of words

Against Shanto

Verbal exchange

Adding the spice

Things heating up

Mocking

Viral thing

Well played

Lasted long

His game

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