Having taken a five-wicket haul to fire Team India to a memorable six-run victory over England on Day 5 at The Kia Oval in London, pacer Mohammed Siraj responded to Dale Steyn's prediction before the match. With the former South African pacer predicting for Siraj to take a fifer before the Test, the 31-year-old responded classily on X, 'You asked. I delivered. Really appreciate coming from you.'
The Hyderabad-born cricketer ran in hard in all five Tests and reaped the reward of it on Day 5 of the final Test at The Oval. To add to his four wickets in the first innings, the 31-year-old took five in the second innings to script a stunning turnaround for India. The wicket of Gus Atkinson was the final one of the innings as he flattened his off-stump to seal a jailbreak.
Below is Siraj's reply on X to Steyn:
"He is a captain's dream" - Shubman Gill on Mohammed Siraj
At the post-game presentation, visiting skipper Shubman Gill said he was in awe of how the 31-year-old kept giving his everything in every ball, spell and Test to lead India to success.
"He [Siraj] is a captain's dream, every ball, every spell he bowled he came all out and gave it everything for the team. Both teams coming into Day 5 not knowing who would win shows how passionate both teams were and how hard everyone has played."
In the process, Siraj has also finished the series with the most wickets, picking up 23 scalps in nine innings at 32.43. He is also the only Indian pacer to play all five Tests in the tour. The six-run victory is also India's narrowest win as far as runs go in Test cricket.
