As the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy drew to a close, there was a lot of talk about Mohammed Siraj's lion-hearted performance. Chris Woakes was the other bowler to be in the starting lineup for all five Test matches, but he suffered a serious injury in the opening innings at The Oval. Siraj was the only bowler to play all five Test matches in the series and come out unscathed.
Siraj bowled the most overs (185.3) and took the most wickets (23) in five Tests. What was most notable was the way he ran in the last two days of the exhausting Test series, towards the close of Day 4 and the beginning of Day 5, reaching speeds of 140 km/h. Siraj's excellent control and swing, along with his aggressive bowling, strangled England as they fell apart in the 374-run chase. India levelled the series 2-2 with their narrowest Test win of six runs.
Shubman Gill and Ben Stokes shared the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Both Indian and English players gave it their all, with Siraj giving it a little bit more than the others, and most would agree that this was a fitting result.
"To be honest, body is fine right now, because it's almost 187 (185.3) hours in this series, but you play for the country, you give everything. I don't think too much. You bowl your sixth over, you bowl your ninth over, I don't care. I believe in myself, you bowl every ball for the country, not for myself, play for the country, you give it everything," Siraj remarked at the press conference following the game, after taking 5/104 in England's second innings.
Furthermore, Siraj wasn't only using his main skill — the ball — to the fullest. He even produced a fight with the bat when it was necessary. India would have won the series if the ball hadn't regrettably bounced back onto his stumps on Day 5 of the Lord's Test, when they required 23 runs and had played a strong defense.
Siraj put together a vital last-wicket partnership with Ravindra Jadeja, albeit a losing after scoring. In his 4 off 30 balls, the tailender avoided bouncers, took body blows, and did his best to keep Jadeja company. What, then, kept him going? According to Dinesh Karthik, Jadeja subtly reminded him of his father.
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Karthik remarked that the Indian bowler is all heart in reference to his T20 World Cup final conversation with Siraj. After India won the final, Siraj while interacting with Karthik remarked "I only believe in Jassi bhai", which became a social media sensation.
"That interview, poor guy, I only ended up doing. And it became a bit of meme material. I always end up doing interviews with Siraj. And I genuinely hope through my broadcasting career, I have many more interviews with him. Because he is just warm. He is funny. And he speaks straight from the heart," Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
Jadeja wanted Siraj to continue fighting for his late father, Mohammed Ghaus, the former Indian cricketer disclosed. "Even today, he was speaking about the fact that when he was batting in Lord's Test, Jadeja told him, think of your dad. You know, these kinds of things will push you in this Test.
"These are emotional moments. Through this Test series, that side of certain players has also unfolded. Joe Root thanks Graham Thorpe. Siraj thinking about his dad and wanting to push. And Jadeja reminding him of that. Small moments which I feel are the beauty of Test cricket."
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