WTC Final: Mohammed Siraj faces off with Marnus Labuschagne on opening day

Indian pacers Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami provided a brilliant start to India against formidable Australia with their fiery pace bowling in the opening day of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) Final at the Oval on Wednesday.

While Siraj removed opener Usman Khawaja for a duck, Shami got rid of Marnus Labuschagne (26) who got starts, but failed to convert it to something substantial.

Siraj troubled the Australian batters with his fiery pace initially. He even had a brief face-off with No. 3 Labuschagne in the sixth over. He stared at the batter and even exchanged a word or two. Then on the first ball of the eighth over, one of Siraj’s delivery took Labuschagne by surprise and hit his thumb.

The incident got the social media talking.

Reacting to the incident, a fan wrote, “Siraj vs Labuschagne. Hogya battle start.”

Siraj vs Labuschagne

Hogya battle start 🔥#WTCFinal #INDvsAUS #WTCFinalOnStar pic.twitter.com/0txt9I6PDn

— Pankaj Yadav (@being_urself01) June 7, 2023

“When Labuschagne got hurt on his thumb, Shubman Gill shouted : Tod de ungli to Siraj,” another fan tweeted.

When Labuschagne got hurt on his thumb, Shubman Gill shouted : Tod de ungli to Siraj 🤣😭#Siraj #INDvsAUS #WTCFinal pic.twitter.com/m5xnfwc0kG

— SPORTSBUZZINFO (@Sportsbuzinfo) June 7, 2023

India won the toss and opted to bowl in the match. As per the latest report, Australia were 104 for the loss of three wickets with Steven Smith (12 n o) and Travis Head (19 n o) occupying the crease. Apart from Siraj and Shami, Shardul Thakur also picked up a wicket for India.