England cricket star Jofra Archer has risked a fine after taunting Rishabh Pant on the final day of the third Test between the Three Lions and India. The 30-year-old was in inspired form and took five wickets over the five days as he featured in a Test match for the first time in four years.
Archer bowled Pant on Monday morning to take his second wicket of the innings and reduce India to 71-5. And after the ball hit the stumps, Archer celebrated by running past the batter and shouting out in his rival’s direction. The Sussex County Cricket Club star then embraced his team-mates as England went on to win by 22 runs.
Archer spoke to Sky Sports after the match and explained his antics as he revealed: “It wasn’t a proud moment. I just told him to cherish that moment.
“He came down the track and that annoyed me a little bit so when the ball nipped down the slope, I was so grateful for that.”
The third Test proved to be a tense affair, and England batter Ben Duckett was taunted by Mohammed Siraj on the fourth day of action after being dismissed.
Siraj screamed in his opponent’s face after extending his follow-through and was ordered to pay 15 per cent of his match fee as a fine as he was handed one demerit point due to his behaviour. It remains to be seen whether Archer is given a similar sanction.
“The first celebration was a bit emotional, yeah,” Archer added. “It has been a long journey and I can’t tell you about the amount of keyboard warriors there have been over the past three years or so.
“I was going to try and not to be [too excited] but as soon as the catch was taken, that just went out of the window, the joy and the crowd.
“They gave me a huge lift. Every moment, it’s made all the hard work and the rehab worth it.
“It was a collective effort. We came together as a group yesterday and said, you know, sometimes we’re too nice.
“We go to other places and some teams are not as nice to us as we are to them so I guess we just tried to shift it.
“I don’t know if it gave us a bit more of a buzz in the field or not but we will keep it in the bank for the future.”