Rahul Kumar
khelja|08-06-2026
In the Test against Afghanistan, Mohammed Siraj was irked by the extremely defensive tactics of the batsmen. Manav Suthar took 6 wickets on debut, due to which the Afghan team was reduced to 152 and was forced to play follow-on.
Team India's fast bowler Mohammad Siraj looked very angry on Monday, June 8, on the third day of the ongoing one-off Test match against Afghanistan. Siraj was deeply troubled by the extremely defensive tactics of the Afghan batsmen at the Maharaja Yadvindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.
At the end of the second day's play, Afghanistan had scored 113/5 in 39.5 overs, with Rahmat Shah batting on 39 runs. When play started on the third day, the entire team was reduced to 152 runs in 58.4 overs. Trailing by 412 runs from India's mammoth first innings score of 564/8 (innings declared), the visitors were forced to follow-on. For India, Manav Suthar, playing his first match, led the bowling taking 6 wickets for just 33 runs at an economy of 1.50 in 22 overs. At the same time, Prasidh Krishna took three wickets for 37 runs in 11 overs.
Siraj unhappy with Afghanistan's 'blocking' strategy
As Team India's grip became stronger on the third day of the ongoing Test in Mullanpur, the atmosphere on the field also heated up.
The team's main fast bowler Mohammad Siraj was clearly angry and disappointed with Afghan batsmen Rahmat Shah and Sharafuddin Ashraf not trying to score runs.The problems started when Ashraf, who was reportedly struggling with an injury, was unable to run between the wickets. Because of this, both the batsmen adopted the strategy of just stopping the ball i.e. 'blocking'. In a video that went viral on social media, especially on X (earlier Twitter), Siraj looked extremely angry with this attitude. When the batsman played a ball back towards him, he angrily moved towards Rahmat Shah.
The Indian pacer had a heated conversation with the Afghan batsman and pointed his finger towards the boundary, as if saying why he was not trying to score runs.
Amidst the dominance of Indian bowlers, Siraj's anger was showing the increasing pressure on the Afghan middle order.Scroll to load tweet…
Rahmat Shah and Sharafuddin Ashraf added 24 runs for the seventh wicket after Azmatullah Omarzai was out at 118/6. Suthar broke this partnership by dismissing Ashraf at 142/7. After this, the visiting team also lost its remaining three wickets in just 10 runs. India got a chance to follow-on even before the lunch break. Afghanistan took 18.5 overs to reach 152 from 113/5 and scored just 39 runs. This shows how much pressure they were under against the Indian bowling, especially debutant Manav Suthar.
Graeme Swann supported Siraj
Mohammad Siraj's anger at Afghanistan's strategy of not trying to score runs and only defending seemed justified to many people, including former English spinner Graeme Swann. Swann, who is commentating on the match, expressed sympathy for Siraj and criticized Afghanistan's extremely defensive batting. He said that this is disappointing for the opposition bowlers, because the team did not seem to have any intention of scoring runs even though there was a lot of time left in the match.
The former English spinner said, "Siraj is asking him the same thing. He is asking, 'Man, what are you doing? What is happening in this game? You are just blocking. There are still 250 overs left.' Siraj is getting irritated.”
He further said, "Siraj is saying, 'This is nonsense.' Get it out of the ground. Get someone who will actually play cricket. I have a lot of sympathy for Siraj here."
Scroll to load tweet…
Meanwhile, Afghanistan, who came to play follow-on, had scored 18 runs in 4 overs without losing any wicket till the lunch break in the second innings. Sadiqullah Atal was at the crease after scoring 16 runs and Abdul Malik after scoring 1 run.
Shreyas Iyer’s first statement as India T20I captain turns heads: ‘I won’t be under anyone’s shadow’
Sooryavanshi reveals Kohli’s pep talk after IPL 2026 final: ‘Felt like I was dreaming’
Two bidders, one disappointed player: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi asks, ‘Where were the other teams in IPL auction?’
Manav Suthar on maiden India call-up: ‘Best feeling of my life’
