India’s Akash Deep has been heavily criticised for his send-off to Ben Duckett on day two of the fifth Test between England and India.
The bowler had been blasted all around the ground by the England opener before he got out attempting to scoop a Deep delivery.
3
The ball was taken behind the stumps by wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, and the Indian fast bowler walked down the pitch to have a word with Duckett.
He then decided to put his arm around the opener and followed him down the wicket.
Duckett remained very calm throughout before Deep was dragged away by his teammates.
It didn’t go down well in the England dressing room, with batting coach Marcus Trescothick appearing to indicate that Duckket should have elbowed Deep in the face.
And on talkSPORT’s commentary, cricket editor Jon Norman and co-commentator Jarrod Kimber had their say.
Norman said: “Akash Deep put his arm around Duckett’s shoulders and is now hauled off by his captain, and I don’t think he was saying, ‘well done, son’.
“He’s going to get in trouble for that. That was silly. He’s got the breakthrough. I don’t know what he’s doing.”
And Kimber was particularly unhappy, adding: “This is why we don’t like bowlers speaking to batters after they’ve dismissed them because the power dynamic has shifted.
“Duckett has smashed Deep all around the place. He’s made him look pedestrian and pathetic at times, and Deep has taken his wicket and put his arm around him, and to be fair to Ben Duckett, he’s kind of ignored it.
“Akash Deep has made a mistake there. He’ll probably lose some money.”
3
The reaction from fans on X, formerly known as Twitter, was also strong.
One supporter said: “That’s an abysmal send-off from Deep. Get back in your box.”
Another said: “Akash Deep giving that send-off to Ducket was actually quite embarrassing. It’s good that Rahul decided to step in.”
And one more added: “I really like Akash Deep, think he’s a very good bowler but that was stupid to put hands on Duckett. Plenty of ways to send him on his way without doing that.”
It marks another flash point in a fiery series.
Since the middle of the third Test when India were annoyed at England’s timewasting on the evening, the series has been intense.
3
Several players have had to be separated, while India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir even had strong words with the head groundsman at the Oval.
England are 2-1 up in the series and are looking to finish things off here.
They are in a great position after bowling India out for 224.
Duckett and Zak Crawley ripped into India’s lead and scored the fastest 50 opening partnership in England’s history inside seven over before Duckett fell and Deep decided to send him off.
