While India
have taken a 154-run lead against England going into the fifth day of the
second test match, Sunday’s play was plagued by controversy after former India
cricketers Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra raised questions on whether the
English team had indulged in ball-tampering. Replays showed two England players
stamping on the ball and rolling it around with the spikes on their shoes. The
incident drew criticism from Indian fans on social media.

Former
India batsman Virender Sehwag asked: “Ye kya ho raha hai” (What is happening
here?), adding, “Is it ball tampering by Eng ya covid preventive measures.”

Meanwhile,
Aakash Chopra, another former India batsman and a regular at the commentary
box, said “Ball tampering, eh?”

After the
allegations were raised, former England pacer Stuart Broad came to the rescue
of this teammates. Replying to a question seeking his response to the incident
on social media, Broad explained that the incident was that one player was
trying to “nutmeg” the other.

Nutmeg is a
footballing term which is used to describe an event when a player manages to
get the ball to go between an opponent’s legs.

“My
comments are – Woody tried to nut meg Burnsy by tapping the ball through his
legs (a very common occurrence) & he missed and kicked the ball there by
accident. Instead of screenshotting the pic, watch the video – quite plain
& easy to see,” Broad replied.

At the end
of day’s play on Sunday, India took a lead of 154 runs. With only one day to go
for the game, the match can still sway either way. The fourth day of the second
test was largely dominated by English bowlers. Wood remained the pick of the bowlers
taking three wickets including that of the all-important wicket of KL Rahul.

After
losing quick wickets initially, Indian batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane
put up a solid fight with a 100-run partnership. Pujara got out for 45 runs
having played 206 balls while Rahane scored his half century before being
dismissed for 61 runs.