Follow UsMohammad Siraj finished as the leading wicket-taker in the Test series against England with 23 scalps. While all the talk around the series was about Jasprit Bumrah and his inability to play all five Tests, Siraj has shown that he can win India matches without Bumrah. That's exactly what happened at The Oval, where Siraj picked up nine wickets in the match, including five in the second innings.
As a result, India went on to claim victory by six wickets and levelled the five-match series 2-2.
Shubman Gill, who was adjudged the Player of the Series from the Indian side in his very first series as captain, said having bowlers like Siraj is a captain's dream.
"He [Siraj] is a captain's dream. Coming in five Test matches, every ball, every spell that he bowled gave his all out, and every captain, every team wants a player like him. We are very fortunate to have him in that team," Gill said at the post-match presentation.
Coming into Day 5, England needed just 35 runs to win, but India needed four wickets. It was an even contest in overcast conditions, but India prevailed in the end. Gill believes that pressure makes you do different things, and he was hoping that it would be the case with the England batters.
"I think we were pretty confident. You know, even yesterday, we knew that they are a little bit under pressure. We just wanted to make sure that they're feeling the pressure throughout. You know, pressure makes everyone do things that they don't want to, and we just wanted to make sure that they're feeling the pressure throughout the 37 runs that they scored," he said.
Gill also believes 2-2 is a fair scoreline at the end of a hard-fought series.
"Both the teams coming on day five never really knowing which team is going to win. This shows how passionate both the teams were and how much of good cricket both the teams played throughout the series," he said.
With 754 runs in 10 innings, Gill also finished as the highest run-getter in the series. He puts that down to the hard work he put in ahead of the series. "It feels very rewarding to be able to achieve that I worked pretty hard before the start of the series," Gill, who led India for the first time in Tests, said.
"There were certain things that I wanted to work on as a batsman, and it was my goal to be able to be the best batter of the series. And to be able to accomplish that goal feels very satisfying and rewarding."
He further adds that he made mental and technical changes heading into the series.
"I think once you are sorted mentally, you would be in a good space, but you're only sorted mentally when you're feeling technically correct. So I think they're both kind of correlated. If you feel like you're getting in good positions, you're always mentally more stable," the 25-year-old said.
After levelling the series at Edgbaston, India had a chance to take a lead in the series, but they felt agonisingly short at Lord's before drawing in Manchester. That allowed them to stay alive in the series and eventually ensured they do not lose it.