Even before the dust could settle on the controversy surrounding Akash Deep’s fiery send-off to Ben Duckett, the English opener found himself at the centre of another heated exchange—this time with young Indian batter Sai Sudharsan. Towards the close of Day 2 in the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Duckett was seen sledging Sudharsan as the Indian walked off after being given out.
A video that has now gone viral on X (formerly Twitter) captures Sudharsan turning back in frustration to confront Duckett. Tensions flared before Harry Brook and Ollie Pope stepped in to diffuse the situation.
Some Heated words exchange with Ben Ducket and Sai Sudarshan, c’mon Sai perform and then speak.#INDvsENG #Saisudarshan #BenDuckett pic.twitter.com/OifqJhFxeL
— Pawan Mathur (@ImMathur03) August 1, 2025
Interestingly, earlier in the day, Akash Deep was under fire from English pundits and media for giving Duckett a rather animated send-off. After being provoked by Duckett—who taunted the young pacer, saying he wouldn’t be able to dismiss him—Akash responded by dismissing the opener and placing a hand around him in a seemingly pointed gesture.
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The incident drew sharp criticism. Former England cricketer David Lloyd, writing for The Daily Mail, deemed Akash’s gesture unnecessary, saying, “Once the batsman is dismissed, that should be the end.” He praised KL Rahul for stepping in quickly to defuse the situation.
England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick also weighed in, labelling the incident “strange” and suggesting that such actions could provoke physical retaliation. Ricky Ponting was even asked whether such behaviour in his playing days would have resulted in a punch, to which he nodded in agreement.
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The criticism didn’t stop there—Prasidh Krishna, too, came under fire for a verbal exchange with Joe Root shortly after Duckett’s wicket. But with Duckett now caught on camera sledging Sudharsan, Indian fans have flipped the narrative, flooding social media with sarcastic jabs and calling out the hypocrisy in the outrage.
Have never seen Sai react like this. His school teacher recently testified in an interview that even if the whole class bullied him, he’d walk away with a smile. Such is the level of his patience & self restraint. Duckett must have said something horrific for him to react. 💔 https://t.co/KUGwaHQX67
— D.⛅ (@Deep_Take001) August 2, 2025
You need to be a really bad bloke to have got that reaction from Sai Sudarshan? https://t.co/KjKr8cQQpi
— Prashanth (@ps_it_is) August 1, 2025
you have to be the worst, I mean the worst to have a sweetheart like Sai to give you that reaction, like he is the sweetest guy in the world imo https://t.co/Yq7Zq6FVWE
— 269atEgbaston (@shubherrrs) August 1, 2025
