Shoaib Akhtar was not too pleased seeing Jofra Archer walking away without checking on Steve Smith after his bouncer fell the Australian on the ground on the penultimate day of the second Ashes Test on Saturday.
The ex-Pakistani speedster took to Twitter to criticise the England pacer, saying, “Bouncers are a part & parcel of the game but whenever a bowler hits a batsman on the head and he falls, courtesy requires that the bowler must go & check on him.”
Bouncers are a part & parcel of the game but whenever a bowler hits a batsman on the head and he falls, courtesy requires that the bowler must go & check on him. It was not nice of Archer to just walk away while Smith was in pain. I was always the first one to run to the batsman.
Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) August 18, 2019
On Monday, former India allrounder Yuvraj Singh took a cheeky dig at Akhtar. In a reply to Akhtar, Yuvraj wrote: “Yes you did! But your actual words were hope your alright mate cause there are a few more coming.”
Yes you did ! But your actual words were hope your alright mate cause there are a few more coming ?????
yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) August 19, 2019
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Smith, who was then batting on 80, was hit on the neck by a searing Archer bouncer. The well-set batsman took off his helmet was laying on the ground looking in considerable pain.
Few England fielders and non-striker Pat Cummins rushed forward to attend him before Australia doctor convinced Smith to go off the field as a precautionary measure. Smith returned to bat later on and was eventually dismissed on 92.
Smith was ruled out of the remainder of the Lord’s Test and remains doubtful for the third Test at Leeds.