Indian spin great R Ashwin lauded England’s Joe Root and Zak Crawley for their touching gesture towards Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj on Day 5 of the recently concluded Lord’s Test. Siraj, who had battled through a 30-ball stay, was dismissed by Shoaib Bashir during India’s run chase.
His wicket ended India’s innings at 170, handing them a narrow 22-run defeat. An emotional Siraj was consoled by Root and Crawley amid England’s celebrations, a gesture Ashwin praised as reflecting the true spirit of Test cricket on his YouTube show Ash ki Baat (from 7:03).
“When Siraj got out, Zak Crawley and Joe Root came to him. That defined cricket for me. That essentially is what Test cricket is. Sometimes we get caught in the spirit of cricket debate, like the time wasting tactics, all that is part and parcel of the game.”
“To win the game, it is important to fight. But at the end of the day, you should be able to shake off the differences. Joe Root and Zak Crawley shook off the differences that had arisen over the last five days.”
Ashwin mentioned that having shared the Rajasthan Royals (RR) dressing room with Joe Root in the Indian Premier League (IPL), he came to see firsthand that the star batter is a true gentleman.
“I have been with Joe Root in the Rajasthan Royals camp, and he is such a gentleman. He performed well in this Test, took an amazing catch and broke Rahul Dravid’s record,” he added (7:40).
“In celebration, you often forget the opposition” – R Ashwin on Root and Crawley’s gesture
In the video, Ravichandran Ashwin recalled a past win over Australia, saying players were too busy celebrating to notice the opposition. He praised Root and Crawley for consoling Siraj, calling it the standout moment of the Lord’s Test (7:55).
“We had won a similar Test at Adelaide Oval. There were partnerships from Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. They needed 28-29 runs when the last wicket fell, and we were just celebrating.”
“We don’t even remember the other team because you are in the moment of celebration. But for Crawley and Root to feel Siraj is hurting, they should put an arm around his shoulder was a definite standout moment for me.”
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