WATCH: Mohammed Siraj seals India’s narrowest Test match win and celebrates with a ‘Siuu’
Team India found a hero when they needed it the most and it was Mohammed Siraj on the final day of the 5th Test at the Oval on Monday. England needed only 35 runs to win with 4 wickets in hand but Siraj turned on the heat and claimed 3 out of the 4 wickets to fall to complete a brilliant five-wicket haul and nine wickets in the match.
Siraj ends the series as the highest wicket-taker between both the sides with 23 wickets in 5 Tests as India and England ended up with sharing the honours 2-2. The Gujarat Titans pacer ended the game by clean bowling Gus Atkinson – the last hope for the home side for 17 – to complete a six-run win.
WATCH Mohammed Siraj seal a six-run win for India in the 5th Test vs England HERE…
Siraj revealed that he downloaded a wallpaper of ‘Believe’ ahead of the final day to give himself the belief that they could win the match. “When I woke up today, I thought I could do it. I downloaded a picture from Google saying ‘believe.’ I thought the Brook drop was a game-changing moment,” Siraj said after the match.
If I took Harry Brook catch, we might not have come out today: Mohammed Siraj
Team India pacer had made a massive blunder by stepping on the ropes while taking the catch of England batter Harry Brook. The English batter was on 19 at that time and went on to complete his 10th Test ton and put on 195 runs for the 4th wicket with Joe Root, who also scored a century.
“I feel amazing because we fought hard from day one til now. My plan was to hit my areas consistently and build pressure. Everything from there was a bonus… If it had been taken, we might not have come out today. But the way he attacked, hats off to him. Lord’s Test was heartbreaking, Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) bhai told me to back my defence and remember my dad and do it for him,” Siraj added.
Shubman Gill says both team came into final day not knowing result
Team India captain Shubman Gill was selected as the ‘Player of the Series’ for Indians by the England coach Brendon McCullum. Gill said that both teams came to the ground still unsure about the result on the final day.
“The way both teams played was great. We came into the final days not knowing the result, showing both teams came with their ‘A’ game. When you have bowlers like Siraj and Prasidh like that, captaincy looks easy. I think the way we responded today was magnificent. We were confident, even yesterday, we knew there under pressure,” Gill said at the post-match presentation.
“We wanted to make sure it stayed throughout. Siraj is a captain’s dream. Gave it his all every ball and every spell he bowled. 2-2 is a fair reflection. It shows how passionate both teams were and how well they played. It was very rewarding, my aim was to be the best batter this series and getting there is very satisfying. It’s always a matter of sorting things out technically and mentally, they are correlated. Learnings from the last six week: We never give up,” he added.
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