Legends League: Remember The Jelly Bean Incident At India-England 2007 Test? Here’s What Ryan Sidebottom Said

Remember the jelly bean incident that happened during the 2007 Trent Bridge Test between India and England? If not, here’s what happened. Team India pacer Zaheer Khan had pointed his bat towards Kevin Pietersen who was standing at the slips, after he noticed some jelly beans being thrown on the wicket. Over the course of the last few years, it has been revealed that jelly beans were indeed lying there on the surface and it was done just to have some “banter” in the middle.

It is important to remember that 2007 was the last time when India defeated England in England in a Test series. The then Rahul Dravid-led side had won the series 1-0 after winning the Nottingham Test.

Former England player Ryan Sidebottom who is currently in India, playing for the Manipal Tigers in the ongoing Legends League Cricket, opened up about the entire incident in a conversation with NDTV.

“Sometimes you know Test cricket and cricket can be really tough and difficult and sometimes you think, life is too short, you just have to enjoy with a smile on your face. In the jellybean incident, India were on top in that game and they were outplaying us at that time. We just thought to put jellybean on that wicket, it was nothing, it was just a little bit of banter. The English press blew it out of proportion but you know, we all want to have a little bit of fun and enjoy what you are doing,” Sidebottom said.

Sidebottom played 22 Tests, 25 ODIs, and 18 T20Is for England, taking 131 wickets across all formats of the game. He also has a Test hat-trick to his name, as he achieved the feat against New Zealand in 2008.

When asked about what he sees as the biggest high of his career, the former pacer said: “Well, to win a T20 World Cup would be one and to take a Test hat-trick would be another with my family being there. I would also say playing against India on home soil. I probably bowled the best I did in my Test career and did not take as many wickets. But when you are playing against the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni, and Sachin Tendulkar, does not get much better than that.”

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Talking about his favourite memory of playing against India, Sidebottom replied: “Playing against India at Lord’s has to be up there, the entire history surrounding Lords, playing against arguably the best batting line-up, does not get better than that.”

While talking about his experience of playing the Legends League, the former pacer said: “It has been a wonderful experience. Indian fans are so passionate, it has been an enjoyable experience, and it has been tough cricket. Everyone will see that we are going out there and giving our absolute best to everything at the Legends League. I think this concept is going to grow and is going to get bigger and bigger, you look at the players on show. Legends League is amazing.”