Ben Duckett walked up to Mohammed Siraj, asked him 'Hello, Mr. Angry. How are you?': 'What do you mean?'

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The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy between England and India is going down to the wire and heading into the third day of the fifth and final Test, and both sides have a realistic chance of winning the contest. Hence, it is no surprise that neither side wants to give an inch. The five-match series has already seen a lot of spice, and Day 2 of the Oval Test saw Akash Deep going up against Ben Duckett and Joe Root squaring off against Prasidh Krishna. The final few moments of the second day also saw Sai Sudharsan losing his cool as he charged towards Duckett despite losing his wicket. The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has already seen a lot of spice. (Action Images via Reuters)

Ahead of the start of play on Day 3 at the Oval, former England pacer Stuart Broad revealed how the England camp and Duckett refer to Mohammed Siraj as ‘Mr. Angry’. It must be mentioned that Siraj and Duckett were involved in a fiery spat at the Lord's Test, where the pacer gave him a send-off after taking his wicket in the second innings.

Siraj was then pulled up by the ICC Match Referee as he was docked 15 per cent of his match fees.

Speaking to host broadcaster JioHotstar before the start of proceedings on Day 3, Broad said, "We're definitely going to see more, yeah, it's carried on throughout the series. I was actually out in the middle when Ben Duckett was doing a few shadow shots yesterday, and Siraj was there. And Duckett smiled at Siraj and went, Hello, Mr. Angry, good morning, Mr. Angry, how are you? And I sort of said to Ben, What do you mean, Mr. Angry? He goes, Oh, we go up to Siraj and we call him Mr. Angry with a smile on our face and see how he reacts."

Siraj led India's fightback in the first innings of the Oval Test. He returned with four wickets, dismissing Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, and Jacob Bethell. His performance was exceptional, helping India stage a comeback after England's 92-run opening stand.

Also Read: Mohammed Siraj reveals exchange with Jasprit Bumrah after India star released

"I've loved watching Mohammed Siraj this series; he's been superb throughout. But whenever there's a bit of controversy, you look in the back of the television screen and it's Mohammed Siraj clapping away and cheering and smiling," said Broad.

I'm surprised

Stuart Broad also said he was surprised to see Sudharsan lose his cool and charge towards Ben Duckett after losing his wicket. The situation got so tense that Ollie Pope and Harry Brook had to intervene to ask the left-handed batter to walk back to the pavilion.

The former England pacer, who has more than 600 wickets in Tests, joked that he was surprised not to see Mohammed Siraj come out and support his teammate.

“I'm surprised, actually, when Sai Sudharsan turned around to Ben Duckett when he got out last night. But Siraj didn't come out and backed Sudarshan up in the middle, although he would have had his flip-flops on by then. But he's certainly been in and around it. I grew up watching Test match cricket in the '90s, where you had these characters that were sort of emotional and driven,” said Broad.

“Ultimately, look, guys, you're playing for your country, you're representing everybody who loves their cricket back home. You're wearing a badge that means a huge amount to you. I would much prefer to be on the side of being overly emotional and confrontational than on the side of fans sitting at home going, I won that shirt, I could put more into that shirt, I could show more emotion and passion. I would always lean on the side of pushing the game to the limits on that side because I loved seeing it, and I loved doing it on the field,” he added.

India will resume play on Day 3 with the score at 75/2 (lead of 52 runs). Yashasvi Jaiswal and Akash Deep will start proceedings for the visitors.

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