Published: Jul 02, 2023, 10:40 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 02, 2023, 10:58 PM (IST)
New Delhi: Legendary cricketer Gautam Gambhir slammed the English fans and called them ‘Sledgers’ for mistreating and abusing the Australian team during the fifth day of the 2nd Ashes Test at the Lord’s Stadium in London, on Sunday.
Australian players were seemingly abused and confronted by members in the Long Room during the lunch break at the Lord’s following Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal. Fans all across the globe are calling them out over this.
Gautam Gambhir called them out from his official Twitter handle and wrote “Hey sledgers….does spirit of the game logic apply to u or is it just for Indians?”
Hey sledgers….does spirit of the game logic apply to u or is it just for Indians?
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) July 2, 2023
In the past, both English players and fans have called out Indian players for not having ‘spirit of game’. Ravi Ashwin and Deepti Sharma were the biggest targets of this following their respective ‘Mankad’ incidents. The former Indian opener with his tweet showed the English fans a taste of their own medicine.
When it mattered the most for England, captain Ben Stokes dished out yet another heroic and stunning 155 in the pursuit of chasing 371. But it was not enough for the hosts to avoid a 43-run loss to Australia on a thrilling fifth and final day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s on Sunday.
Resuming the final day on 114/4, Stokes and Ben Duckett (83) added a further 63 runs before the former fell to Josh Hazlewood just after the first hour of the morning session was over.
As Stokes marched forward in his onslaught, Australia, minus Nathan Lyon’s bowling, were having flashbacks of Headingley 2019 coming true at Lord’s 2023. But once Stokes fell to Hazlewood and his 108-run stand with Stuart Broad came to an end, Australia were able to bowl out England for 327 in 81.3 to go 2-0 up in the five-game series.
For England, what came back to hit them hard was allowing Australia to get too many runs in the first innings after electing to bowl first and then throwing away too many wickets in their first essay while looking to attack the short ball, giving the visitors a 91-run lead.
They now must win the third Test at Headingley, starting from Thursday, otherwise, they won’t be able to regain the Ashes.
(with IANS inputs)
