Stuart Broad: England legend Stuart Broad hailed Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj amid the ongoing fifth Test between the two teams at The Oval. Broad offered an amusing take on Siraj’s workload and performance throughout the series.
Stuart Broad: The Indian quick has played all five Tests in the series. He has been an absolute workhorse, bowling 155.2 overs from eight innings so far, the most by a bowler in the series from both teams.
Stuart Broad: Broad reckoned the pacer needs a much-deserved break and should go to a beach for a few weeks to recover after the series.
“Mohammed Siraj deserves to put some swim shorts on or a pair of flip flops and go to a beach for a few weeks. It is tiring. The day after, you’d be okay after a series, but four days after you feel really exhausted. Almost like bit of a comedown from the emotion, having to lift yourself up through a series like this, and then you stop and it hits you. You do need a bit of time to recover,” he said on Sky Sports Cricket.
Stuart Broad: Siraj is also the joint-highest wicket-taker in the series so far with 18 scalps, including a fifer. He has maintained his fitness to be able to play all five games. It has been a long series with tight scheduling.
Stuart Broad: Former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik highlighted the same. He expressed that there could have been longer breaks between some Tests. While there was a ten-day gap between the first two games and a week’s break after the third, there was very little turnaround time between the second and third game, and the fourth and fifth.
“I feel almost everything is right about this series, except the timelines given between Test matches. I know there’s a lot more to it and easy for me to say, but even the players, you want someone like Jasprit Bumrah to play. You want Stokes to come back from an injury if possible. I feel its so rushed, sometimes you have very little time to recover physically and mentally. It’s been hard fought and a lot of heat to it,” he reflected.
With needing to chase 374 runs in the final innings of the fifth Test, it is set up for a cracking finish.
One of the best series India have had outside, reckons Dinesh Karthik
Reflecting on the series, Dinesh Karthik reckoned it is one of the best India have had away from home. He pointed out how competitive the visitors have been despite being 1-2 behind.
Notably, seniors like Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Rohit Sharma are not present anymore. However, Karthik expressed that this team will take India’s Test cricket forward for the next ten years.
Both teams have been highly competitive and have fought hard throughout. Stuart Broad added that the series has been unpredictable, with the result still unknown.
“I feel every day I have turned up in this whole Test match series and gone, don’t really know what’s going to happen today. Someone’s going to drag the game and that has been the wonderful thing about the series. Completely unpredictable. The players have put on a show and still we don’t know the result of the series. We won’t know that until England are bowled out,” he said.
India will aim to bowl the hosts out and level the series 2-2. With the batters doing their job, the bowlers will have to step up once again.
