Mohammed Siraj was on his haunches, left heartbroken as Shoaib Bashir's delivery found his way to the leg stump even after he made middled it. In disbelief, trying to come to terms with what happened, Siraj had to be dragged off the crease, with words of appreciation from the the opposition. Ahead of the fourth Test of the series at Old Trafford, Manchester, Siraj talked about how confident he was in his ability to bat on Day 5 of third Test at Lord's despite being a no.11 batter.
"To get out after middling the ball..." Siraj said. "The way we were batting, me and Jaddu bhai, it never felt like I could get out. I had this much confidence from batting there that I could only get out if I made a mistake. Unfortunately, I got out even after middling the ball. That was heartbreaking.
"At one point, it looked like we would lose by 80 runs. Then we fought hard. We even took it past Tea. That hurts more. Had we lost by 80, it would have been fine. To get that close and lose is heartbreaking. But after a while I told myself the series is not yet over. There are still two more Tests. These matches should be fun."
Siraj is currently the leading wicket-taker in the series. He has 13 scalps from three Tests. However, he considers himself unlucky not to get more. he also learned lessons from Lord's defeat, not to get irritated when he doesn't get wickets.
"I have been bowling very well, but luck hasn't been a little on my side," he said. "As a bowler, I of course want wickets every time I bowl well, but you have to tell yourself that if not in this match, you will get it in the next. Upar wala bhi dekh raha hai [The man upstairs is watching]. If he has brought me this far, he will take me ahead as well.
"I can't get irritated if I don't get wickets. Even in the last match, it was so frustrating when I beat Joe Root, drew edges, did everything, but the only thing missing was his wicket. But I have to tell myself to keep it simple and keep bowling good balls, and the results will come."
Siraj chasing milestone
Meanwhile, Siraj will be looking to become fourth India pacer to take 50 or more Test wickets against England. Former India captain Kapil Dev has 85 wickets, followed by Jasprit Bumrah (72 wickets) and Ishant Sharma (67 wickets) against the English side in red-ball cricket. Siraj has 40 wickets from 14 Tests at an average of 33.85, including a fifer at Edgbaston, Birmingham.