Former Indian opener Navjot Singh Sidhu opened up on an interesting tale about Sir Geoffrey Boycott from his very earliest commentary days. Sidhu revealed that Boycott was a massive fan of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty then and that the former Indian cricketer's comment left everyone in splits.
Boycott was arguably one of the best openers produced by England and one of the most disciplined ones of all time. The 84-year-old played 108 Tests and 36 ODIs from 1964 to 1982. He also amassed a staggering 48426 runs in 609 first-class games.
With Boycott attending the ongoing Leeds Test between England and India, Sidhu recalled an old tale and revealed:
"Baat aisi hai mujhe Harsha ji ne kaha tha ki, inka aadar karo, yeh bahut badi sanstha hai. Mujhe yeh tha yeh bhartiyata ko challenge kar dete hain. Aur yeh kuch aisi baatein kar dete hain, main dabne waala nahin hoon. Main dabanng hoon, main inke peeche padne waala hoon. Pehla commentary stint jab inke saath hua, un dinon yeh Shilpa Shetty ke fan they. Kehne lage, 'Look at the morning sun, looks like Shilpa Shetty'. Maine Kaha, 'Geoffrey, Shilpa smiles at you because you are her father's best friend'. Toh Harsha gir gaya, woh doosra ek banda gir gaya. Pura India neeche gir gaya guru."
(Thing is Harsha Bhogle had told me to respect him as he's a big personality. I heard he picks on Indians but I'm not going to be submissive. I'm brave, I'm going to go after him. During my first commentary stint, he was a fan of Shilpa Shetty back then. He said, 'Look at the morning sun, looks like Shilpa Shetty'. I said, 'Geoffrey, Shilpa smiles at you because you are her father's best friend'. Harsha Bhogle and one other person fell down laughing.)
Ben Stokes strikes late as Leeds Test poised for an exciting finish
Meanwhile, England captain Ben Stokes struck late on day three against India to give their side a crucial opening, dismissing B Sai Sudharsan for 30., breaking the 66-run stand with KL Rahul. Nevertheless, India still hold a sizeable 96-run lead.
Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah took a fifer to restrict England to 465, helping the tourists eke out a six-run lead. Ollie Pope top-scored for the visitors with 106.
