ENG vs IND | Twitter in splits as ‘Sir Vivian’ Siraj exhumes Kohliesque regret after losing middle stump

Mohammed Siraj, already hailed as this generation’s Vivian Richards, furthered his transition to a batter with a similar gesture at The Oval.‌India spurned all the advantage they had gained in the final session of Day 1 by losing four wickets for 20 runs the next morning. The collapse begun when Josh Tongue trapped Karun Nair plumb in front for 57 before Gus Atkinson trapped three in the space of seven deliveries to bowl out the visitors for 224. While Prasidh Krishna succumbed to an absolute ripper, reactions would have one believing it was Mohammed Siraj who had the misfortune of succumbing to a jaffa — even if it may not be entirely true.

Siraj, on his fourth delivery, tried to drive a full delivery pitched around off-stump with confidence beaming from his face. However, the Dukes nipped slightly after pitching and beat the willow by miles, dissecting the gap between the bat and pad to crash into middle-stump. Despite the textbook humiliation of being sounded the death rattle, Siraj was not ready to let his aura down. The tailender promptly signalled with his hands to his partner how the delivery had nipped in, perfectly imitating the mannerisms of a batter such that even Virat Kohli would have been proud.

Twitterati needed little time to virtually start chanting ‘Sir Vivian Siraj’.

Good one