Cook felt Siraj stepped over the line with his act.
Former England skipper Sir Alastair Cook believes India pacer Mohammed Siraj deserves a punishment for the fiery send-off he gave to Ben Duckett on Day 4 of the Lord’s Test.
After removing Duckett, Siraj was pumped up and rammed a shoulder into the English opener while celebrating the wicket. The umpires immediately intervened and calmed things down.
According to Cook, Siraj stepped over the line with his act. He felt there was no need for the right-arm quick to behave the way he did, especially since he had already dismissed the batter.
“That’s unacceptable, but who is to blame now? Whether Duckett walked right into him and knew exactly what he was doing. Then again, you shouldn’t shout in someone’s face like that. I wholeheartedly say that was wrong. There should be no physical contact. Yes, celebrate a wicket like you mean it. But you’ve got him out; you don’t need to look him in the eye from three inches and shout in his face. So I expect there to be repercussions, and there should be repercussions. That is my opinion. I thought that crossed the line,” Cook said on the BBC Test Match Special.
Cook also shared his thoughts on the heated exchange involving India skipper Shubman Gill and England openers Duckett and Zak Crawley a day earlier, saying he did not have a problem with it.
With only six minutes left on the clock, the Indians were confident of bowling two overs before stumps, but Crawley took over a minute to take guard after the umpires had called play.
Then Crawley stopped India’s star pacer Jasprit Bumrah twice in his run-up. Once because he wasn’t ready, and then when he complained of movement behind the sight screen.
Infuriated by Crawley’s time-wasting tactics, Gill had heated exchange with the English opener. The confrontation could have turned uglier after the former, in some choicest language, requested Crawley to show some courage while facing Bumrah.
Gill even made an Impact Player gesture to suggest that Crawley should be substituted if he was injured when the latter called for a physio after being hit on the finger. This time, Crawley responded and he was joined by Duckett.
Cook sees nothing wrong in what happened on Saturday, saying such theatrics only add to the drama and the spice that is Test cricket.
“I loved it last night. I read a guy say it’s not good for the kids under 12 years of age or whatever – he was part of some coaching set-up as well. So I understand from that point of view. But if I have paid money to come watch it, I really want to see that. Because I know what it really means to some of the players. They are playing for their country," Cook remarked.
Coming to the Lord’s Test, India finished Day 4’s play at 58/4 in 17.4 overs after bowling England out for 192 in the second innings. The visitors need 135 more runs on the final day to win the game and go 2-1 up in the five-Test series.
On the other hand, England are just six wickets away from registering a memorable win at the iconic venue.