‘No sympathy for India’: Shubman Gill slammed after Mohammed Siraj snubs Jasprit Bumrah in ball change drama

Shubman Gill argues with umpire at Lord's (PTI Photo)

In a session that India started on a strong note on Day 2, swiftly descended into irritation and uncertainty. This was mostly due to a controversial ball change at Lord's that gave England the upper hand.

Ben Stokes, Joe Root, and Chris Woakes were all dismissed in rapid succession by Jasprit Bumrah's scorching spell, leaving England reeling at 271/7. Root, who started the day at 99, completed his 37th Test hundred with a boundary off the first ball. But his innings was soon cut short with a spectacular delivery that snuck back and broke his middle stump.

Woakes edged his opening delivery to Dhruv Jurel, and Stokes was dismissed shortly after being castled with another peach of a delivery. Suddenly, India were in control and threatening to clean up the lower order.

Then came the twist. Surprisingly, Mohammed Siraj, who was unhappy with the state of the ball, requested a ball change without consulting Bumrah, who was wreaking havoc with the existing one. Following the umpires' approval of the modification, India's rhythm broke. The new ball immediately relieved pressure on the English batsmen as it offered much less movement.

Former England pacer Steve Harmison was highly critical of the decision, pointing fingers at Siraj rather than the ball. "I've got no sympathy for India at all. Why change it (ball)? Jasprit Bumrah got it swinging around the corners. Mohammed Siraj didn't even throw the ball to Bumrah, didn't ask his opinion. When he asked for the ball to be changed, the ball was doing a lot. Now, the ball being good enough is a different argument. In this situation, I've got no idea why India decided to change the ball.

“The ball was doing all sorts. They just picked up three wickets, and then it was an absolute implosion. Gill stopped trying to get Jamie Smith out, put all the fielders out. All of a sudden, you've now got the older ball. I do agree the ball was a lot older than the one they replaced. Within 10 minutes, they got from bowling England out for 320 to now potentially England getting 400. Because you feel hard done by when the ball was actually doing quite a lot. That's why I've a pretty little sympathy with India. They should've never done that,” said Harmison while speaking on JioHotstar.

It was evident that India were disappointed. Their body language and enthusiasm clearly changed as the ball changed led to late fifties from Jamie Smith (51) and Brydon Carse (56). England were eventually bowled out for 387 in the first innings.