Siraj felt that the teammate's presence always gave him more belief
India under the new leadership of Shubman Gill were staring at a big task going into Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England.
Rohit Sharma, the previous captain, hung up his cap a few weeks before the series while Virat Kohli followed suit just a few days later. While not having either of those two would’ve affected the team psychologically, the confirmed message from the medical team that Jasprit Bumrah will not play all five Tests spread across six weeks was a proper setback.
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But once the series began, Gill’s bunch looked more resilient than any other Indian team that had toured England as they pushed back every time when backed into a corner.
When the defeat at Lord’s seemed like it would take an hour, they pushed it back through Ravindra Jadej’s grit and the tenacity of their tailenders. Even though they fell agonisingly short by 22 runs, it only seemed to improve their self-belief.
When a defeat looked inevitable in Manchester after losing two wickets with zero runs on board, Gill alongside KL Rahul, Jadeja and Washington Sundar steadied the ship and rowed it to the safety of a draw.
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In the final Test, a target of 374 was made to look miniscule on a minefield pitch at the Oval by centurions Joe Root and Harry Brook before Mohammed Siraj upped his game. Thanks to his fantastic 5-104, India registered their first-ever Test victory by a single-digit margin on the final day.
Siraj deservedly received the plaudits from everyone else and everyone asked him about what he did to believe in himself while facing such odds.
After helping India level the series 2-2 with a haul of 23 wickets from bowling a back-breaking 185-odd overs, Siraj was quickly to point out that he would’ve loved to see Bumrah in the dressing room to share his joy.
“I can’t describe my emotions right now, because I was thinking all night about that catch (Harry Brook’s catch he took and stepped on the boundary rope). I kept cursing myself ‘How could I do that?’ If I had taken that catch, we wouldn’t be standing here at the ground for a fifth day. But looks like god had some other plans,” the pacer told BCCI.tv after the presentation.
“I miss Jassi bhai. Because his presence makes a lot of difference in the dressing room. I believe in Jassi Bhai and in myself,” Siraj said, repeating his own words after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup final in June last year.
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