London [UK], July 11 : Former wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik was in awe of England tearaway Jofra Archer's "mouth-watering" over, which was "full of drama" during the second day of the third Test against India at the 'Home of Cricket', Lord's, on Friday.
After four years of absence, Archer announced his return to the Test format by testing the speed gun to its limits. In his first over, Archer notched up his pace, made early inroads and bowled a 93.3 mph delivery on the fourth delivery, the "quickest ball of the series".
"Mouth watering. Exactly what every English fan would want to see. The quickest ball of the series. That tells you a lot about Jofra Archer. What an over it was, full of drama." Karthik said on Sky Sports.
An air of excitement engulfed the spectators as their eyes remained glued to witnessing Archer's tempting pace. Former India head coach and cricketer Ravi Shastri was one of those watching Archer take the centre stage with his pace magic.
"When you have genuine pace coming to the fore, it's magnificent. I was outside and watching Archer mark his run-up, and the anticipation was unbelievable. When he got that wicket, all hell broke loose. The way he celebrated it, you could tell it meant so much to him. That's what crowds come to see: the ups and downs," Shastri said on Sky Sports.
India's young sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal became the first victim of Archer's breathtaking pace. He gave away a healthy outside edge to Harry Brook at the second slip to return cheaply on 13(8). According to former England pace stalwart Stuart Broad, Archer would have pictured similarly scalping Jaiswal's wicket.
"When you have had a lot of time out of the Test scene, you think about your arrival back, and Archer would have dreamt about bowling to a left-hander [Yashasvi Jaiswal] in his first over. He averages just shy of 24 to left-handers, nipping the ball away and bringing the outside edge into play. His wicket was how he would have pictured it," Broad said on Sky Sports.