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Mohammed Siraj was the hero for India on Day 5 of the Oval Test against England, recording figures of 5/103 in his spell of 30.1 overs. He took the important wickets of Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton and Gus Atkinson to bundle out the hosts for 367 while chasing the target of 374. This fine spell saw the 31-year-old finish as the highest wicket-taker of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with a total of 23 scalps under his belt.
Siraj participated in the post-match press-conference and was asked about how he recovered his form after giving an average performance in the Border-Gavaskar series 2024/25 against Australia. However, the pacer shut down the reporter's question by pointing out that he had picked up 20 wickets in that series as well.
Siraj confidently shut down the question
"I took 20 wickets in BGT, sir. When Jassi bhai (Jasprit Bumrah) was bowling well, my only job was to bowl in partnership as much as possible," Siraj told the reporter.
"I didn't want to try too much because if I would try hard, I could leak runs, and the pressure would build-up as well," he added.
Notably, Siraj participated in all Tests of both the BGT and Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and was additionally the Indian bowler who bowled the most overs in both the five-match assignments. While the pacer supported Jasprit Bumrah quite well against Australia, he stepped up big time in the pace spearhead's absence against England.
With his performance in the series against England, Siraj showcased that the Indian team can depend on him to get the wickets for them as their frontline pacer. He has now undoubtedly become a highly-important member of the Indian team especially in red-ball cricket.
Meanwhile, India's next Test assignment will be a two-match tour against West Indies which will commence from October 2 later this year. It will be interesting to see if Siraj will be given the responsibility of leading India's bowling attack for the entirety of that series.
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