Our Bureau
London
Throughout this series between India and England, the talk around ‘Spirit of Cricket’ has been pretty high with several incidents across the last couple of matches. However, on Day 1 of the fifth test, Indian batter, Karun Nair showed his big heart when English bowler Chris Woakes got hurt while trying to save a boundary.
The freak injury occurred on the fifth ball of the 57th over, when Karun Nair was facing Jamie Overton. Nair played a beautiful straight drive and the ball was racing over to the boundary but Woakes, who was placed on mid-off, gave it a chase and successfully prevented the boundary, However, in that process he injured his shoulder as he landed awkwardly on the dive he put in to save the boundary.
Nair on the other hand had already taken three runs and could’ve easily ran the fourth but seeing Woakes grimacing in pain, Nair signalled partner Washington Sundar to not run the fourth. People really appreciated his gesture and stated that this is a perfect example of why cricket is known as a “Gentleman’s Game”.
Gus Atkinson after a great day with the ball was in an interview where he talked about Woakes’ injury. He said, “It doesn’t look great, I will be surprised if he takes any part in the game. It’s the last game of the series and when anyone gets injured it’s a shame. We’re hoping it’s not too bad. Whatever it is, he will get full support from everyone.”
When it comes to the match, the England team, just like the last match, has dominated the first day of the match. Their bowlers, especially Atkinson, have looked class apart and have dismissed India for just 224 runs at the start of the second day. Atkinson bagged a fifer on his return while Josh Tongue took 3 wickets for them. On India’s front Karun Nair was the only one who managed to score a fifty despite many getting good starts.
