IND vs ENG 2021: [Watch] Prithvi Shaw mimicks Harbhajan Singh's bowling action
Swashbuckling Indian opener Prithvi Shaw was in the mood for some mimicry during the tea break on Day Two of the Oval Test between England and India. Veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh's action has been mimicked on numerous occasions by cricketers in the past.
Skipper Virat Kohli famously mimicked Harbhajan's action during India's maiden pink-ball Test against Bangladesh back in November of 2019. Prithvi Shaw joined the list on Friday during the tea break.
Watch: Prithvi Shaw mimicking Harbhajan Singh’s action here:
Prithvi Shaw was not part of the original Indian squad that was announced for the England tour. It was only after the Indian contingent was rocked with injuries to Shubman Gill, Avesh Khan and Washington Sundar that Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav were called up as reinforcements.
Ollie Pope's 80 and Chris Woakes' counter-attack lifts England in the Oval Test
Meanwhile, England have taken a position of strength in the ongoing Oval Test against India. Starting the day at 52/3, the home side were rocked early as Umesh Yadav got rid of both overnight batsmen - Craig Overton and Dawid Malan - within the space of the first hour to reduce the hosts to 62/5.
However, a combination of some poor bowling from the likes of Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj in the second hour of the morning session and a brilliant counter-attack by the duo of Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow put England back in the ascendancy.
Pope and Bairstow added 89 priceless runs for the sixth wicket to whittle down the deficit before Mohammed Siraj removed the latter with a vicious nip-backer.
However, Pope, en-route to his sixth Test half-century, continued on his merry way and was supported by the likes of Moeen Ali and then Chris Woakes as England piled on crucial runs after wiping out the deficit.
Ravindra Jadeja removed Moeen Ali against the run-of-play before the tea break while Shardul Thakur dismissed Ollie Pope (81 off 159 balls) in the third session.
Chris Woakes continued to hurt India with timely boundaries and had swelled England’s lead to 85 with James Anderson providing him with able support.