Aakash Chopra has opined that Mohammed Siraj might take a five-wicket haul and that his name will go on the Lord’s Honors board alongside KL Rahul.
KL Rahul got his name added to the illustrious list of cricketers on the honours board when the batsman scored a century on the first day of the Lord’s Test. Mohammed Siraj has already taken two of the three England wickets to fall thus far and will also hope to achieve the significant milestone.
Aakash Chopra Predicts That Mohammed Siraj May Take A 5 Wicket Haul
While making his predictions about the third day’s play in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra observed that Mohammed Siraj is likely to be amongst the wickets. Mohammed Siraj has been the pick of the bowlers for India, bagging two of the three wickets.
He has his sight set on the Lord’s Honours board with a fifer. India skipper Virat Kohli is expected to use Mohammed Siraj from the first ball on Day 3 as the visitors look to bundle out the Englishmen under 200.
“My first prediction is that Siraj will take two more wickets. He has already taken two and will take two more, which means he will take four wickets, it is possible he takes a five-wicket haul. His name might be written on the Lord’s Honors board along with Rahul.”
The former Indian cricketer also feels that a couple of batsmen will be trapped in front of the wickets in the third day’s play.
Aakash Chopra reasoned: “Two players will be dismissed LBW. It is possible because the ball is keeping low as well and there are more attempts being done to bring the ball in.”
Ishant Sharma and Rory Burns are the only batsmen who have been dismissed LBW in the Lord’s Test so far.
Aakash Chopra Predicts Moeen Ali Will Score More Than 30 Runs
Aakash Chopra also forecast a decent contribution from all-rounder Moeen Ali with the bat. Moeen Ali has played sporadically since debuting in 2014 in Tests. He played only 1 Test match in series against India in India in February 2021 as he was rested for the next matches for England’s rest and rotation policy.
Before that, he played a solitary Test against Australia in 2019. He would want to amend his below-par batting average of 28.89 in 62 Tests. His career bowling average is also above 35.
In this regard, he said: “I feel Moeen Ali will score more than 30 runs, he will go beyond 30 runs.”
The 43-year-old commentator finally predicted a couple of sizeable partnerships in the third day’s play of the second Test between India and England.
Aakash Chopra observed: “I also feel there will be two fifty-plus partnerships.”
Joe Root and Rory Burns stitched together an 85-run partnership for the third wicket in England’s first innings, before the latter’s dismissal just before stumps on the second day. There were two-century partnerships in India’s first innings, both involving KL Rahul. While the stylish batsman had an opening partnership of 126 runs with Rohit Sharma, he added a further 117 runs with Virat Kohli for the third wicket.