The way India began Day 2 of the World Test Championship final was pretty much the same: Erratic. If there is ever a good time for a bowling team to strike, it is the first hour of a new day. Travis Head and Steve Smith continued to frustrate the opposition, so it was far from a rit. Smith finished his 31st Test century, while Travis Head arrived at his 150 as India’s speed bowling couple of Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj watched out of choices.

Mohammed Siraj gave Smith back-to-back half-volleys in the day’s first over, allowing the former Australia captain to score consecutive boundaries and reach the three-figure mark.

Such a lazy start did not impress Sunil Gavaskar one bit, who was clearly stunned and said: 

“What is happening? I mean these are the second and third deliveries of the day”.

Gavaskar said

When Siraj ran in to bowl the following ball, Smith abruptly withdrew due to issues with the Spider-cam. However, Siraj was not enjoying it enough. Siraj frustrated threw the ball back at the stumps despite stopping in his delivery stride. The India quick was unimpressed as Smith attempted to explain to Siraj why he was not playing the delivery while pointing at the Spider-cam. Siraj had received a sounding off from his captain, Rohit Sharma, during the previous delivery, and the fact that he had to stop when he was really steaming irritated him even more.

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“Steve Smith just backing away. Didn’t please Siraj but Smith had every right to move out of the way. It’s more the frustration of Siraj being hit for two boundaries. He got run off by Rohit Sharma the previous ball,”

said Ravi Shastri on air.

However, the incident ended up being a blessing in disguise for India, and Siraj in particular

Siraj began bending his back as a result of the Smith incident and was eventually rewarded with Head’s wicket. Regardless of having Head in a spot with a flood of short conveyances – one that made them jump and the other skying the ball with a confused draw – Siraj had his man out and got behind after a strong 163, finishing a 285-run organization.

India’s lackluster start with the ball caught Matthew Hayden by surprise too, who said, 

“This was a start India didn’t want! You don’t want to give an inch to Steve Smith. It’s a perfect delivery when you sit all night contemplating your hundred. A little juicy half volley on leg stump, thank you very much.”

Hayden said