“So, what would the reaction of that Chandimal wicket be had it been an England player on the first morning of a Test in India?, ” quipped a journalist on Twitter after a shambolic dismissal of Dinesh Chandimal in the ongoing first Test between England and Sri Lanka. What is the fuss about? Why was it a mockery of Test cricket? And ultimately why it shows hypocrisy of England cricket?
Hypocrisy by England cricket?
English bowlers were rattling the Sri Lankan top-order. Overcast conditions and a slight cover of grass meant Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson send back the likes of Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis and Angelo Matthews. 40/4 read Sri Lanka score when Dinesh Chandimal came to the crease. The veteran negotiated the difficult early phase and played a couple of cover drives as well. Looking set after playing 39 balls, Chandimal (unfortunately) had to come up against an unplayable ball by Shoaib Bashir.
Watch Dinesh Chandimal’s ‘unlucky’ dismissal below:
Bowling the third ball of his second over on Day 1, Bashir pitched up well outside off-stump. The ball not only spun sharply but kept so low that no batter in the world could have nudged it forward. Interestingly, it wasn’t the first time a ball kept this low in this Test match as Chandimal managed to knock one in the previous over of Bashir. This time the ball barely bounced and clueless Chandimal opted for an unsuccessful DRS.
Ahmedabad to Manchester: No bounce!
Now, the big question is: would the English media be going off if this had happened to one of their own batter on a pitch in India? Let’s be honest, they’d be screaming about unfair conditions and how the pitch is a disgrace. Remember Ahmedabad 2021 when Axar Patel wreaked havoc the English batting order single-handedly. While the matches didn’t last over two days, every English journalist and media house lambasted Team India for creating a ‘mockery of Test cricket’.
The hypocrisy is real. England loves to complain about spin-friendly pitches in the subcontinent, but when one of their own gets a taste of their own medicine, it’s suddenly all fair game. This dismissal is a reminder straight to their face to all the whining England done over the years whether in India or any other subcontinent country.
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