India’s fast bowler Mohammed Siraj played a crucial role to play in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy as he ended up as the highest wicket-taker in the five-match series with 23 scalps to his name. In the final Test against England at The Oval, he played a crucial role, picking up important nine wickets including a terrific spell on Day 5.
In an exclusive interview with RevSportz, the bowler discussed the nerves on Day 4 and 5 of the Oval Test. “My first spell on the fourth day of the last Test went really well and Ollie Pope got out,” Siraj said. “I went out for one or two overs after that to change my T-shirt and then when I got back, the very next ball came to me. I tried catching it and lost balance, ended up dropping Harry Brook. It was a match-changing moment because that one wicket could have saved us from having a fifth day.”
The pacer further praised England’s dominant batting and how he managed to overcome from that dropped catch.
“Then the way Joe Root and Harry Brook batted, for once I thought that the match is out of our hands. But I did not react to that or the dropped catch because I was the senior bowler there. Just tried focussing on the present because I couldn’t get back what was lost,” he added.
Siraj praised the Indian bowling unit and talked about the pre-match preparation before Day 5 of the last Test match against England with four wickets to win.
“Prasidh (Krishna) came next and bowled really well to get (Jacob) Bethell and Joe Root out. Also, Akash Deep got Harry Brook, which again came to me. Next day, I felt that there are 35 runs [to get] and four wickets, and I’ll be able to do it. I don’t know how, but I knew I’ll be able to pull it off,” he mentioned.
Taking inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo’s poster and through self-believe, he successfully picked up three wickets, leading India to win the final Test match by 6 runs.
“I slept around 11 o’clock at night and woke up at 6 o’clock in the morning. I couldn’t sleep after that. I went on to Google and got a Cristiano Ronaldo wallpaper that said ‘Believe’. Then somehow, later in the day, by God‘s grace I was able to execute the belief I had earlier that I would be able to pull it off,” he concluded.
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