This was his second fifer of this series after scalping six wickets in Birmingham.
Mohammed Siraj is the man of the moment as he has produced a miraculous performance early on the fifth day of the final Test match of the ENG vs IND series to clinch an astonishing victory for India. This win also levelled the long and hard-fought five-match series with the score line of 2-2.
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However, after India’s marvellous six-run win, an old Tweet of the former South African pacer Dale Steyn has surfaced on the internet. The speedster had predicted that Siraj would bag a five-wicket haul in the series decider on July 30, just a day before the final fixture got underway at The Oval.
Surprisingly, the 31-year-old snared three quick wickets of Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton and Gus Atkinson in the first session of Day 5 to complete his fifth Test fifer and hand a stunning, close-margin win to the visitors. Earlier, he had also dismissed opener Zak Crawley and skipper Ollie Pope on Day 4 of the fixture.
Siraj also responded to Steyn’s tweet with a heartwarming response.
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The seamer showcased a brilliant form throughout the entire red-ball series in England. He was the only pacer to play all five matches of this enthralling series after Chris Woakes failed to bowl in the second innings of the final fixture due to a dislocated shoulder. However, Siraj scalped 23 wickets at an average of 32.43, which also makes him the highest wicket-taker of this series.
With the injury woes surrounding the ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah and the Edgbaston hero, Akash Deep Singh, and the form concern of Prasidh Krishna, who was earlier dropped from the playing XI due to his high economy rate, Siraj was the only consistent pacer throughout all five matches and bowled a total of 1,113 deliveries in the series.
After levelling the five-match series 2-2 on their last tour of England in 2022, a young India squad has given a tough fight to the hosts to replicate the result again this time. This also marks the beginning of a new Test era under the recently appointed red-ball skipper Shubman Gill. Notably, the 25-year-old also led from the front with a mammoth 754 runs in five matches, including three tons and a magnificent double-century, in his maiden Test captaincy assignment.
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