57 minutes of madness: Mohammed Siraj’s fire seals historic turnaround at the Oval

57 minutes and not one minute could be counted as a lull. Hearts thumping in our chests and hearts in our mouths, we watched a miracle unfold and history being made. A young team making it back from almost having lost the series, and the one and only Mohammad Siraj finally emerging from the shadow of Jasprit Bumrah as the series decider.

A large part of this frenzy was the raw emotion of Mohammad Siraj that emanated from his body and radiated into each one of us that was praying for India. From yesterday’s lost catch on the boundary and the sense of guilt on him, to today’s ‘junoon’ in his eyes- he built the drama with his every movement and every spell he bowled.

With a dropped catch by Dhruv Jurel or Akash Deep the cameras caught him in a moment of despair and then in the same moment re-building his resolve. With every new ray of hope as another wicket got taken, there was frenzied supper from the stands and the media box. Today if on any such day, Indian fans have showed the kind of support we generally admire in English fans- for the way they are known to egg on and support even loosing sides.

Yesterday as well, when loss seemed imminent and a matter given, fans did not stop calling for ‘Siraj’, ‘Akash’ or ‘Jaddu’. It was something to experience - Indian and English supporters jostling shoulder to shoulder, each side doing better than the other every time there was the need to pump up their heroes.