India endured a 22-run loss at Lord's, which was heart-breaking for more than one reason. Firstly an excellent effort by Ravindra Jadeja - who waged a lone battle with the tail-enders Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj - ended in vain. Secondly the manner in which Siraj was dismissed - absolutely tragic.
The tail-ender had resisted 29 balls as India approached tantalisingly close to victory, but he got out in the least expected manner in the 30th ball. This left Jadeja stranded at the other end, unbeaten on 61, running out of partners.
Shoaib Bashir bowling with a taped hand dismissed Siraj as the tail-ender tried to defend the ball on backfoot with soft hands. However, the turn saw the ball bounce on the pitch and roll back between his legs and knock the stumps.
Siraj failed to believe it and appeared dejected, which was understandable. He remained in that state until consoled by modern-day-great Joe Root, who scored a century in the first innings.
Sports at times can be cruel and Siraj's dismissal saw cricket enthusiasts roll out a video from the vault. Something similar had happened over two decades ago and that time it was former India pacer Javagal Srinath, who we now mostly see operating as an official match referee.
The incident took place back in a Test between India and Pakistan in Chennai back in 1999. India were 13 runs away from the target after Sachin Tendulkar had played one of the greatest knocks of his career - albeit it coming in a losing cause.
Then Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad were the final pair batting with odds heavily tilted towards the neighbours. Srinath attempted a defensive push against legendary spinner Saqlin Mushtaq but was bowled out in similar fashion.
The only difference was that instead of the ball rolling back onto the stumps, like in Siraj's case on Monday, the ball then bounced on the pitch and looped back between Srinath's legs and knocked the stumps. The moment then evoked wild celebration among the Pakistan players. Even after 26 years, cricket enthusiasts were instantly reminded of the painful memory, which ended in a 12-run victory for Pakistan - then led by Wasim Akram.
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