On Day 2 of the Lord's Test, Mohammed Siraj paid tribute to late Liverpool and Portugal footballer Diogo Jota. The young forward died in a car crash in Spain along with his brother Andre Silva which left the sports fraternity stunned. Siraj gestured '20' with his hands as a tribute to Jota's jersey number.
After the day's play, Siraj opened about how he felt emotional on learning about the unfortunate news.
"Last match mein jab hum log aa rahe the, tab pata chala tha ki Diogo Jota ka accident mein death ho gaya hai. Kyunki main Portugal ka fan hoon, kyunki CR7 (Cristiano Ronaldo) wahan se khelte hain. Emotional feel hua mujhe. [While we were arriving for the last match, I got to know that Diogo Jota had passed away in an accident. I'm a fan of Portugal because CR7 (Cristiano Ronaldo) plays for them. I felt really emotional.]" Siraj said in a video posted by the BCCI.
Siraj revealed that he told teammate Kuldeep Yadav that he would pay tribute to Jota after taking a wicket at Lord's.
"Toh mujhe last match mein karna tha, but life is very unpredictable — hum kiske liye lad rahe hain, kis ke liye kar rahe hain, jab kal ka hi pata nahi hai. Life ka kuch bharosa nahi hai. Toh ekdum mujhe shock lag gaya ki aisa kaise ho sakta hai — woh bhi car accident! Aaj mujhe wicket mili, toh maine socha ki tribute doon unhe, kyunki unka jersey number 20 tha. Main Kuldeep ko bola tha ki main aise tribute dena chahta hoon Jota ko, toh aaj wicket ke baad diya. [I had planned to do something in the last match itself, but life is so unpredictable — we don't even know who we're fighting for or doing things for when tomorrow itself is uncertain. There's no guarantee in life. I was completely shocked — how could something like this happen, and that too in a car accident? Today, when I took a wicket, I thought of paying tribute to him because his jersey number was 20. I had told Kuldeep that I wanted to dedicate a tribute to Jota, so I did it after taking the wicket today]" he added.
Kuldeep's tribute to Jota
Earlier, Kuldeep had paid a tribute to the Liverpool forward on his X account.
“Signed in 2020. Won the number 20, and made it his forever. Today, football has not lost. The whole world has lost. Your smile brought a shining light to the pitch you stepped on. Whether it was Porto, Wolves or Liverpool. Hearts were made yours everywhere. My thoughts and prayers to his entire family. May you rest in peace Diogo,” Kuldeep wrote on X.
Liverpool retires no.20 jersey
Meanwhile, Liverpool have decided to retire the no.20 jersey. The English Premier League (EPL) club made a statement after consulting Jota's family.
“As a club, we were all acutely aware of the sentiment of our supporters and we felt exactly the same way,” said Michael Edwards, CEO of football for Liverpool's owner Fenway Sports.
“I believe this is the first time in Liverpool Football Club's history that such an honour has been bestowed upon an individual. Therefore, we can say this is a unique tribute to a uniquely wonderful person.
“By retiring this squad number, we are making it eternal, and therefore never to be forgotten."