From Zero on Day 4 to Hero on Day 5 giving India their most memorable series levelling victory, Mohammed Siraj has finally came out of the shadows of Jasprit Bumrah with an exhilarating display of courage and lion heartedness with the red cherry in the hand to dismantle England. A total Indian workhorse bowling 169 overs over 5 Test matches without any workload management claiming 23 wickets and last wicket fittingly coming at a delivery of 145kmph, now Justice has been served to Mohammed Siraj by the cricketing Gods.
With India winning the last test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at The Oval, it means that the newly introduced trophy was shared by Indian captain Shubman Gill and England captain Ben Stokes.
With England needing 35 runs to win the Test and win the series 3-1, Indian pacers Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna made sure that the Shubman Gill led Indian team did not lose the series and India tied the series with a six-run win. With Mohammed Siraj being the leading wicket-taker of the series with 23 wickets and Gill being the highest scorer in the series with 754 runs, the series saw both the teams giving their best
With India losing the opening Test at Leeds by five wickets despite five centuries by an Indian batsman in the match, the Shubman Gill led Indian team would go on to win the second Test at Birmingham by 336 runs with Shubman Gill recording the second highest run aggregate in a single Test in Test cricket history.
England would deny India a series lead chance at Lords with the Indian team falling short of the 193-run target by 22 runs to take the lead 2-1 followed by the Indian team fighting to a draw at Manchester with centuries by Gill, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja on the final day.
India looked well behind in the game with Harry Brook and Joe Root taking the match almost out of India’s hands. But with the Indian pacers led by Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna making sure that India were in the hunt for the series-levelling win, the Shubman Gill led Indian team levelled the series 2-2 with the six-run win on Monday.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain has termed it a ‘travesty’ had England won the series 3-1 and has hailed India’s effort in the Oval Test.
Nasser Hussain reserved a special praise for the Oval hero Mohammed Siraj after his heroic 5-wicket burst in the 5th Test
Nasser Hussain claimed that India’s Oval hero Mohammed Siraj is more than the nickname the England team has given him and compared the pacer to the legendary Shane Warne in terms of being a competitor. Mohammed Siraj was the star of the show for India in the final match of the series as he picked three out of the final four wickets to help India seal a dramatic six-run win on Monday, August 4.
The Indian pacer picked up 23 wickets across the course of the series and bowled more than 185 overs in the five matches he played. The 31-year-old stepped up for India as Jasprit Bumrah played just three matches in the series. During the matches that India won, where Bumrah was absent, it was Mohammed Siraj who led the way. Nasser Hussain, in his column for the Daily Mail, said that the pacer was the reason why India won both games.
“Of course, they ended up winning the two games that Bumrah didn’t play, and the reason for that was because of one man, really – Mohammed Siraj,” said Hussain.
Mohammed Siraj did have a couple of rough moments, especially being the last man to get out in the Lord’s Test loss and when he misjudged a catch when Harry Brook was batting on 19. Hussain compared it to Warne’s moment in the 2005 Ashes when he dropped the catch of Kevin Pietersen. However, the former England skipper said that Mohammed Siraj has the fitness and a strong will to succeed.
Hussain said that Mohammed Siraj can play the pantomime villain, like Warne, at times but said he is a born entertainer with all the attributes to succeed at the highest level.
“Siraj is a cricketer that always gives it everything. Yes, he plays the pantomime villain at times, a bit like Warney did, and so people love to hate him, but he regularly has that massive smile on his face too.”
“He’s fiery, the England boys call him Mr. Angry, and he has the longest follow through in the history of the game, but he demands your attention. You could do a montage of the histrionics – down on his knees in despair at Lord’s, the celebrations and dejection when DRS decisions go one way or another.”
“He’s a born entertainer, but crucially he’s got all the other attributes you need at the highest level: heart, passion, and ultimately skill,” said Hussain.
Hussain said that had Siraj had a rough outing in England, then India would have lost the series, and it was perfect execution from him in the series.
“If Siraj gets it wrong, India lose the series, so it was perfect execution from a champion cricketer that has unfairly courted controversy over the past month,” said Hussain.
Mohammed Siraj picked up a total of nine wickets across both innings in the Oval Test. Former England cricketer Nasser Hussain said that the Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj desreved to take the last wicket on Day 5 at the Oval Test. The 31-year-old removed Gus Atkinson on 17 runs to bowl out England for 367 helping India clinch a narrowest 6 run win to level the 5 match series 2-2.
Mohammed Siraj took 3 off the 4 wickets to fall on the final day becoming a Hero to seal a thrilling win for India. Speaking on his heroics on Sky Sports Nasser Hussain said :
“It was an incredible series. It wasn’t just today. It wasn’t like four boring games and then we had a little thrilling climax to it all. We will wake up tomorrow, and we will go, ‘Oh, we haven’t got any India-England left in the Test series.’ That has just been an incredible story. Different conditions, different pitches and you have to be honest, it would have been a travesty if England had gone 3-1. India deserved to be 2-2 for the amount of good cricket they have played in this series.
“The final scoreline was well and truly deserved by India, 2-2, and it was very fitting that Mohammed Siraj was the man to get that final wicket. He has bowled his heart out. He had that traumatic moment here on the boundary. He had that traumatic moment at Lords. He deserved to get that final wicket.”
Mohammed Siraj emerged as th leading wicket taker of the series with 23 wickets in 5 Tests. He took 9 wickets in the final Test at the Oval and deservedly won the Player of the Match award for his rich performance with the ball on the field.
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