The recently concluded Test series between India and England will be fondly remembered as the “Mohammed Siraj series. The Indian pacer put his heart and soul into his performances as India managed to draw the series after winning the fifth Test at The Oval.
With India missing Jasprit Bumrah in two of the five Tests, including the final one, Siraj took it upon himself to deliver for his team and he did. He finished the series with 23 wickets and played a big part in India’s win at The Oval.
It was due to Siraj’s whole-hearted effort that India have now pipped ahead of England in the WTC 2025-27 points table after the fifth Test. The Indian pacer is now everybody’s favourite, given his telling performances in the recent series.
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He Is Fiery, Demands Your Attention - Nasser Hussain On Mohammed Siraj
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain, in his recent column for The Daily Mail, revealed the nickname England players coined for him in the Test series.
“He’s fiery, the England boys call him Mr. Angry, and he has the longest follow-through in the history of the game, but he demands your attention," “You could do a montage of the histrionics – down on his knees in despair at Lord’s, the celebrations and dejection when DRS decisions go one way or another” Hussain wrote in his column for The Daily Mail.
Nasser said that Mohammed Siraj is a “born entertainer but crucially has got the other aspects as well to be successful at the highest level in international cricket.
“He’s a born entertainer, but crucially he’s got all the other attributes you need at the highest level: heart, passion, and ultimately skill. He’s gone from being a hit-the-deck bowler using wobble seam to trap people LBW – as he did with Joe Root – to one who has developed outswing so big that Shubman Gill wasn’t interested in taking the second new ball," he added.
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Hussain Praises Siraj's Game Sense
The former England skipper further hailed Siraj’s game sense as he praised the timings of the yorkers that he bowled. He came up with the yorker to Zak Crawley after supposedly changing the field and bluffing the England batter in the process in the final ball on day 4. He went back to it again with Gus Atkinson looking to be aggressive against him and looking to hit him to the cow corner. Both times, he bowled it accurately and breached the defense of the batter.
“Then, there is the fabulous yorker, such as the one to Crawley late on day three. He went to it again just before midday, knowing that Gus Atkinson was trying to hit him over midwicket for a second six that would have tied the game, nailing it under the most immense pressure. If Siraj gets it wrong, India lose the series, so it was perfect execution from a champion cricketer that has unfairly courted controversy over the past month," Hussain concluded saying.
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