The second pink-ball Test between India and Australia at Adelaide Oval was full of drama, with one particular moment involving Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj sparking a frenzy on social media.
During his finish on day two, the speed gun surprisingly clocked one of Siraj’s deliveries at 181.6 kmph.
This figure quickly caught attention as it appeared to surpass Shoaib Akhtar’s long-standing record of 161.3 km/h, set in 2003 against England.
Fans, always quick to react, flooded social media with humorous reactions to Siraj’s supposed “achievement”.
Some joked that Siraj had unlocked a new level of speed, while others were amused by the situation.
“Siraj is heading straight for Shoaib Akhtar’s records,” tweeted one fan, while another joked: “Mohammed Siraj or is it a Formula 1 car?”
However, the excitement was short-lived as broadcasters quickly clarified that the speed reading was due to a technical glitch. The corrected speed turned out to be much lower than the surprising value.
Although the correction dampened the excitement, fans had already savored the moment of fun.
It is pertinent to mention that Australia leveled the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-1 with a dominant 10-wicket win over India in the second Test on Sunday in Adelaide.
Day three began with India needing a solid partnership from Rishabh Pant and Nitish Rana to keep any hope of a comeback alive.
However, Mitchell Starc quickly extinguished those hopes by dismissing Pant in the very first match of the day.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, who looked promising with some aggressive knocking, was dismissed before reaching his maiden Test fifty.
Cummins continued his dominance, quickly clearing the tail as India failed to mount any resistance.
Led by Pat Cummins and with lethal bowling from Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc, Australia restricted India to 175 runs in their second innings, setting a target of just 19 runs.
Openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney chased down the target in just 3.2 overs.
Travis Head was named man of the match for his brilliant 140 in the first innings.
The teams will face each other in the third Test at the Gabba from December 14 to 18.
