India pacer Mohammed Siraj was adjudged as India's Impact Player of the Series after the side's 7-wicket victory over West Indies in the second Test. There were many other contenders for the award like Ravindra Jadeja (105 runs 8 wickets), Yashasvi Jaiswal (219 runs), Shubman Gill (192 runs) and Kuldeep Yadav (122 wickets). However, Siraj, who picked up a total of 10 scalps in the series, was the one chosen as the winner of the award.
Narayan Jagadeesan, who was picked in India's squad as the side's second wicketkeeper option, was the one to hand the award to Siraj. He also lavished praised on the seamer, highlighting his brilliant performancve with the ball and in the field throughout the two Tests.
Jagadeesan's praise for Siraj
“Obviously there have been a lot of performances in the series, great performances, but now it’s just about one guy who has been impeccable throughout the series, who has had a lot of vigour, courage and aggression every time the ball was thrown to him. First innings, second innings, third spell, or even, for example, the wicket that we played on today, he was so good; every time he came there he had the same, and more importantly, I think he was probably the one when there was good effort on the field. He was the first one to go and pat everyone on their back and encourage them, so the Impact Player of the series is Mohammed Siraj," Jagadeesan said in a video shared by BCCI.
Siraj's remarks on winning the award
After being given the award, Siraj highlighted how the pacers had to work extremely hard on the Delhi pitch in comparison to the pitch in Ahmedabad. This was due to the fact that the pitch at the Arun Jaitley stadium offered little help to the seamers. He also pointed out that it was very hard to pick up wickets in the second Test at the batting-friendly surface.
“This series went very well, honestly. When we played in Ahmedabad, there was a lot of help for the fast bowlers. Then we came to Delhi, and we had to bowl a lot of overs here. Every wicket felt like taking five wickets because as a fast bowler, when you are rewarded after putting in the effort, you get a lot of confidence. And you also feel happy because you’re winning the impact player of the dressing room. So it feels really nice," Siraj stated.
“When you achieve something, as a person, you feel very proud. I will continue to deliver similar performances because my favourite format is Test cricket. There are a lot of challenges in this. You have to be on the ground all day, physically and mentally. You feel very proud in a very different way. It’s a lot of fun," he added.
Meanwhile, Siraj will be hoping to continue his great form in red-ball cricket in India's next assignment that will be a two-match series against South Africa and will commence from November 14.