Fans on Twitter speculated as allegations of ball-tampering were levelled on England players during Day 4 of the ongoing Lord’s Test between India and the hosts. The incident happened during India’s second innings on Day 4 of the Test match when two England players were spotted stepping on the ball with their spikes on.
The incident took place in the 32nd over of India’s second innings. England pacer Mark Wood stepped on the ball after bowling the delivery before captain Joe Root reached out and collected the delivery. Fans on social media speculated if it was a deliberate attempt from the England pacer to tamper with the condition of the ball.
India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour was asked about the incident during the post innings press conference after the conclusion of Day 4 of the Test match. The batting coach said he believed the incident was ‘accidental’ and not done deliberately. He added that the Indian team was not concerned by the incident.
“Not really, we were sitting outside so we hardly saw those replays. I saw it later, it does not look anything deliberately. I think it was accidental, we did not think anything about it actually,” Rathour said at the post-day press conference. Team India did not launch an official complaint with the match referee regarding the incident.
Talking about Day 4 of the Lord’s Test, India’s top-order was removed cheaply by England pacers as openers KL Rahul (5) and Rohit Sharma (21) couldn’t get the team off to a good start. Skipper Virat Kohli was also sent back on 20 off 31 balls as his batting woes continued.
Underfire Cheteshwar Pujara (45) and Ajinkya Rahane (61) played two brilliant knocks to help India recover from the top-order collapse. The duo added 100 runs for the fourth wicket before Pujara was dismissed in the 73rd over. However, the partnership from the duo helped India reach 205/7 at stumps on Day 4.
Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma will resume India’s second innings on final Day 5 of the Test match and will be hoping to extend their lead to 200 from 180 runs at present.
