Mohammed Siraj, Indian pacer remembered his late father after bagging a five-wicket haul on Day 4 of the fourth Test against Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane.
Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj impressed with the ball on the penultimate day of the ongoing fourth Test against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane by bagging his maiden Test fifer to run through the Australian batting line-up, helping India bundle out the hosts for 294 runs in their second innings of the series-deciding Brisbane Test.
Mohammed Siraj Picks Maiden 5 Wicket Haul And Says Focus Was To Realize Late Father’s Dreams
Leading the pace attack in his third Test for India, in the absence of several senior pacers, Mohammed Siraj led from the front and picked up the important wickets of Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and Matthew Wade among others to return with figures of 5/73- his first 5 wicket haul in Australia’s second innings at The Gabba.
Mohammed Siraj remembered his late father at a press conference and said he wished his father was there to watch as he registered his first five-wicket haul for India in Tests. The pacer had lost his father ahead of the start of the Test series but had decided to stay back and not return home to fulfil his national duties.
“My dad had wished that his son would play and the entire world would watch him. I hope he could have been there to watch this day. This is because of his blessings that I have got a five-wicket haul in Tests. I am speechless and can’t express my feelings in words,” said Siraj as he remembered his father after his stellar performance.
“It was a tough situation, dad’s demise. I got strength after talking to mom and my focus was to realize dad’s dream,” he added.
The 26-year-old did not find a place in the playing XI in the first Test in Adelaide but earned his Test debut in Melbourne and has since then has been one of the key bowlers for India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Mohammed Siraj Don’t Consider Himself As A Senior Bowler
Mohammed Siraj was then asked about the pressure of leading the pace attack in the absence of the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Umesh Yadav among others. The 29-year-old said he didn’t consider himself a senior bowler yet but the experience of domestic cricket came in handy.
“I don’t consider myself as a senior bowler but since I have played a lot domestic and India A, it helped. I missed Jassi bhai (Jasprit Bumrah). So I had to take more responsibility and build pressure and don’t try too many things,” said Siraj.
“You set up the batsman by first bowling a series of inswings followed by an outswing, after that 1-2 over bowled on the same channel, and then change the line. The idea is to keep on building pressure,” he added.
Several pacers including Mohammed Siraj, T Natarajan, Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur were given Test debuts and they impressed as India won series 2-1 in Australia by winning the deciding Brisbane Test by 3 wickets. India chased the target down as Rishabh Pant scored an unbeaten 89 and Shubman Gill scored 91.