A a verbal exchange between Mohammed Siraj and Harry Brook caught everyone's attention on Day 3 of the first Test between India and England at Headingley, Leeds on Sunday, June 22. The incident took place in the 84th over after Brook struck Siraj for consecutive boundaries. The right-arm pacer appeared to be attempting to unsettle the batter. Brook was batting aggressively against the new ball, as the Indian pace bowlers struggled to generate much movement. He hit two impressive boundaries off Siraj's bowling.
Mohammed Siraj, Harry Brook locked in heated exchange
In response, Siraj bowled a sharp delivery that moved back in, troubling Brook, and then directed some words towards him with a prolonged stare. Brook, however, simply waved him off, indicating his desire to continue his innings and maintain his momentum. Siraj's attempt to engage Brook verbally did not prove successful, as the batter went on to score 18 runs in the subsequent over, including a remarkable six over long-on.
Mohammed Siraj seemed to have no answer to Brook's onslaught in the 86th over. The pacer has generally appeared out of form, lacking consistency since his first spell with the new ball on Day 2. Up to this point in the innings, his only wicket was that of England captain Ben Stokes in the 65th over. This is not the first time Siraj has been involved in such confrontations, as he had similar heated exchanges with Australian batsmen Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series, which resulted in a fine for Siraj from the ICC.
Following his aggressive scoring against Siraj, Harry Brook moved into the nineties. He reached 99 runs after taking a couple of runs off Prasidh Krishna at the beginning of the 88th over. On the very next ball, Brook narrowly avoided edging the ball to the wicket-keeper. However, on the third delivery of the over, he attempted a pull shot but failed to keep it down. Shardul Thakur, positioned at fine leg, took a slightly unstable catch, denying Brook a century on his home ground.
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Meanwhile, England were bowled out for 465 runs to give India a lead of six runs heading into the second innings.