Mohammed Siraj: Silencing his haters in the best possible style

22 overs more. This was the only factor playing on the minds of Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali. On the 5th day of the Lord’s Test, England needed to survive a total of 60 overs to escape with a draw. With half the side back in the hut, the daunting task of survival fell upon Buttler-Ali and the duo was steadily eating through the overs. Their resistance was then cut short by Mohammed Siraj who dismissed Ali and Sam Curran in consecutive deliveries. 13 overs later, he accounted for Buttler and James Anderson to secure one of the most sensational Test victories for India.

OUT! TEAM INDIA HAS WON WITH 8 OVERS TO SPARE! 🇮🇳
India take 1-0 lead in the series 🙌🏽

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— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) August 16, 2021

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Silencing the haters

After taking four wickets in the first innings, Siraj attended the virtual press conference at the end of the 3rd day. His style of wicket celebration was the talking point of the day as Siraj put a finger on his lips after every dismissal. When asked about the reason behind such a gesture, the pace bowler gave the following answer.

“That is just for all my haters…lot of people used to say that I couldn’t do this, couldn’t do that…so I just use my bowling to send a message to them. That’s why I have that celebration,” Siraj said.

Perhaps after his performances in the second innings of the Lord’s Test, it is quite likely his haters will not be bothering him for now. Claiming 4/94 in the first innings, Siraj added 4/32 to take his wickets tally in this Test to eight. His match analysis of 8/126 is the best bowling performance in the match by an Indian bowler at Lord’s. In fact, only Kapil Dev has taken 8 wickets in a Lord’s Test for India.

Emerging swiftly

Mohammed Siraj has featured in only seven Tests for India and yet has left an incredible impact. He made his Test debut in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against Australia. He opened his Test account with the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne in the first innings and claimed a three-fer in the second innings.

At Gabba, Siraj had to lead the pace attack with all other senior bowlers either injured or not available. In these challenging circumstances, the pace bowler from Hyderabad rose to the occasion and delivered a splendid performance.

Australia began their second innings with a lead of 33 runs. Siraj dominated the Aussie middle order and plucked the major wickets of Steve Smith, Labuschagne and Matthew Wade. Later, he wiped out the tail and walked off with the career-best figures of 5/73. India went on to win the Test with a historic batting performance.

These performances elevated Siraj’s stature in the Indian pace unit to such an extent that his selection was under consideration even in the World Test Championship final. While he missed that opportunity, Kohli ensured that he played in both the Tests against England thus far. We hope that Siraj will continue to silence his haters with such stunning bowling performances.