VIDEO | Ind vs Eng: Mohammed Siraj pulls off Ronaldo’s ‘SIUUU’ celebration after last England wicket!

"He’s a warrior, a real warrior. He’s someone you want on your team...."

 

When one of the greatest Test batters of this era says this about his opponent, it’s more than just a compliment. On day 5 of the fifth and final Test at The Oval, with India needing four wickets and England 35 runs to win, pacer Mohammed Siraj showed why Joe Root praised him so highly.

 

Siraj struck in his first over of the day, getting Jamie Smith to edge one behind, where Dhruv Jurel took a good, low catch to be dismissed for 2, with England needing 27 runs more.

 

With fellow pacer Prasidh Krishna keeping things tight at the other end, a fire-up Siraj returned to dismiss Jamie Overton in his second over of the day, trapping him LBW for 9.

 

The two pacers kept up the intensity, beating the bat regularly, until Josh Tongue was foxed by a full yorker from Krishna, falling for a 12-ball duck.

 

The heroic arrival of the injured Chris Woakes as the last man, with his left arm in a sling and heavily strapped shifted the focus a little from the Indian bowlers. But, it was only temporary.

 

Though Gus Atkinson (17) threatened to pull off a spectacular series-winning chase, Siraj once again came to India’s rescue. With Atkinson in a hurry to finish off the match with big shots, the right-arm pacer came up with a low full toss. Atkinson reached out to play a drag sweep-sort of a short but connected with thin air as the ball clattered into the off stump, sparking off wild celebrations from the Indian players.

 

And the hero of the unlikely win ran off with his arms outstretched before pulling off Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous ‘SIUUU’ celebration.

 

Mohammed Siraj’s ‘Believe’ emoji

 

With Siraj in full flow, the Indian team never gave up hope of pulling off an unlikely win. And neither did the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Telangana Police himself.

 

"I woke up in the morning and checked google on my phone and took out a 'Believe' emoji wallpaper and told myself that I will do it for the country," Siraj told Dinesh Karthik in a post match interaction, after finishing with 5 for 104 in 30.1 overs and a match haul of nine wickets in The Oval Test.

 

He bowled 185.3 overs and took 23 wickets in the series. “I always believe that I can win the game from any point, and did that to the morning.”

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