'Maybe he was just chilling': Dinesh Karthik slams Mohammed Siraj for making a mess of Harry Brook's catch and stepping over boundary

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik believes pacer Mohammed Siraj was not expecting Harry Brook’s catch to come his way in the first session of Day 4’s play at the Kennington Oval, London. In the 35th over, Krishna bowled a short bal. Brook could not control the shot and the top-edge went to long leg fielder. Siraj took the catch with both hands but took a back step, touching the boundary cushions.

Siraj was disappointed with what he had done. Krishna and KL Rahul at slips had already started celebrating but it soon turned into a grim sight for them. Karthik said that Siraj was busy talking to the masseuse and Arshdeep Singh before the ball was delivered as he had just come back on the field.

“Siraj and Prasidh bowled their hearts out, no doubt about it. A very seminal moment in this game came when Siraj dropped that catch. He had just walked into the ground before the start of that over, the masseuse was standing behind him, Arshdeep was just in his corner, maybe he was just chilling, was not expecting anything of that sort to come to him. After that, you can almost see that the Indian team deflated a little,” Karthik said, while talking to Cricbuzz.

ALSO READ: 'We don't know whether the message is going from outside to the middle': R Ashwin slams Shubman Gill, Gautam Gambhir for 'mistakes' on Day 4

“He did not judge the ball well enough, when you are running behind for a catch, the most important aspect is that you need to quickly get under the ball, and then have a wide base to keep your head still. What Siraj was doing is that he had a bit of a shorter step, so he was moving away as he took the catch, which tells you he did not judge the ball well enough.” he added.

ALSO READ: 'He's got this fake angriness about him sometimes, which I can see straight through': Joe Root feels Mohammed Siraj is 'a really nice lad'

Karthik criticises Akash Deep for missing his line

Karthik was critical of Akash Deep's bowling as well. Deep's only wicket on Day 4 was Brook who lost control of his bat while trying to hit the ball towards covers. He was caught by Siraj, but not before getting to his century.

“For a start, I think Akash Deep could have bowled much better. I don’t think he really bowled as well as his talents suggests, because what he showed in Edgbaston was high quality. But then he kind of tapered off, I don’t know why. He bowled a lot down the leg, I’m not sure why he hasn’t had a good couple of games,” the cricketer-turned-commentator said.

Brook was batting on 19 off 21 balls when he got the reprieve. He ended up scoring 111 runs from 98 balls, sharing a 195-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Joe Root.