Watch: Unlucky Dom Sibley walks back after freak dismissal
England opener Dom Sibley got out in the most bizarre fashion in the second innings of the fourth Test in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Dom Sibley crunched a sweep shot off the middle of his bat off Axar Patel in the tenth over. But the ball ricocheted off the left knee of Shubman Gill at short leg and lobbed up in the air for Rishabh Pant to complete an easy catch.
Replays showed that Gill jumped to avoid getting hit by the ferociously hit shot, but he couldn't get out of the ball's way in time. Dom Sibley, who had batted assiduously for 20 balls, could do nothing but begrudgingly drag himself back to the pavilion. Here's the video of Dom Sibley's freakish dismissal:
With the fall of Dom Sibley, England slumped to 20-3 after the visitors made another disastrous start to their innings after failing to come to terms with the Indian spinners.
Dom Sibley struggles against Indian spinners continue
Dom Sibley has endured a disastrous series, scoring only 134 runs in eight innings at a paltry average of 16.75.
After his gritty 87 in the first Test in Chennai, Dom Sibley failed to get going against the Indian spinners, especially against Axar Patel, who dismissed the 25-year-old four times in the last three Tests.
Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin sent back Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow in his very first over of the England second innings, a double blow from which the visitors never recovered.
While Crawley was caught in the slips by Ajinkya Rahane, Bairstow couldn't keep down a leg-side push, getting caught at leg-slip for his third duck in four innings this series. Dom Sibley's freak dismissal then further pegged back the visitors.
Except for Dan Lawrence (50) and Joe Root (30), none of the visiting batsmen managed to stay long enough at the crease to prolong the contest. Eventually, the visitors were bowled out for 135, with both Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin picking up five-wicket hauls to seal a 3-1 series win for India.
Team India have now sealed their place in the inaugural World Test Championship final against New Zealand at Lord's later this year.