Siraj gets in Labuschagne’s face during heated exchange, Virat Kohli adds fuel to fire; ‘DSP se panga nahi,’ remind fans

Mohammed Siraj and Marnus Labuschagne had a heated moment on the field on Friday during Day 1 of the first Test between India and Australia in Perth’s Optus Stadium. In the 13th over of the Australian innings, Labuschagne deflected the ball with his feet after taking a blow to his body as he felt it might roll onto the stumps. His tactic did not sit well with Siraj as the India pacer thought there was a momentary run-out chance. Siraj straightaway got into Labuschagne’s face, leading the two to share a few words.

Adding fuel to the fire was Virat Kohli, who walked towards the stumps, collected the ball from the fielder and aggressively knocked the bails off the stumps during Labuschagne and Siraj’s face-off. A part of Kohli’s gesture could well stem from his disappointment of dropping Labuschagne’s catch at second slip when he was batting on 0. Nonetheless, the missed opportunity did not prove costly as Labuschagne scored just 2 runs off 52 balls before getting out to none other than Siraj.

The argument between Siraj and Labuschagne spilled over to the internet as fans couldn’t keep calm. Some of them were quick to remind that just last month, Siraj was appointed Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) under the supervision of the Director General of Police (DGP) in Telangana. Here are some of the gems netizens dished out.

Siraj and India pacers on fire

Labuschagne was Siraj’s second strike of the day. His first wicket was of Mitchell Marsh, as the Australian all-rounder edged to KL Rahul at third slip. Siraj finished the Day with figures of 2/17 as he, captain Jasprit Bumrah and fellow pacer Harshit Rana combined to put India on the box seat by having Australia reeling at 67/7 at stumps. If the Aussie bowlers – Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins and Marsh – dominated the first two sessions to bowl India out for 150, the final two hours of the game belonged to Bumrah’s pacers.

India went into the match with four pacers – all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is yet to bowl in this innings – a decision Bumrah faced flak for. Including four fast bowlers meant India had to drop the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from the Playing XI and play a lone spinner in Washington Sundar, who can also add value with the bat. But as the game progressed, Bumrah’s ploy became more evident. Nitish emerged as the top-scorer for India with 41, and Rana picked up the all-important wicket of Travis Head to get off the mark in Test cricket.