London [UK], August 5 : After playing a pivotal role in India's spirited comeback on Day 5 of the final Test at The Oval, Mohammed Siraj opened up about the emotional rollercoaster he experienced following his costly fielding lapse on Day 4. The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy ended in a 2-2 draw, and the Hyderabad seamer gave his all in the game.
In a video posted by the Indian Cricket Team on Instagram, Siraj, hailed as the hero of The Oval, spoke candidly.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DM9UwNdzNrJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
"To be honest, I can't describe my emotions right now," Siraj said.
"Because yesterday, when I was thinking about that catch last night, I mean, how could I do that? If I had taken that catch, we wouldn't have been here today. We would have been in the room, relaxed," he added.
Prasidh Krishna offered a way out for India to avoid the misery that Harry Brook was capable of unleashing while relying on his skillset.
Brook top-edged his pull the first delivery of the 35th over, and Prasidh started celebrating as soon as the ball shot sky high. Siraj arrived at the landing position and completed the catch. However, to his and India's agony, he took a step back and touched the boundary rope, turning the wicket-taking delivery into a maximum.
He sunk his face in his hands, trying to fathom the gravity of his mistake. After being dropped on 19, Brook made the most of the second wind and blazed his way to a swashbuckling 111 from 98 deliveries before he ballooned the ball to Siraj off Akash Deep. In the second instance, Siraj didn't allow history to repeat itself and pouched the ball safely.
"God must have thought of something. I must have done something good. That's why he brought it today, and you can see, the result is right in front of you," he noted.
Despite the catastrophic game-changing moment, Siraj revealed that he woke up with a sense of belief in himself to finish the job for the team, which he eventually did.
"When I woke up this morning, I had a feeling inside that I can do it. I can change the game. Because I had so much belief, that's when I went to Google, took out a picture of 'believe', and put it on my wallpaper, that I can do it," he revealed.
"So God, thank you so much," he said.
Siraj, who finished with a game-defining spell to help India claw their way back into the contest, also spoke about the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who was released from the squad.
"I miss him, Jassi (Jasprit Bumrah) bhai because he would have had a different presence," Siraj said, acknowledging the void left by India's pace spearhead.
"Yeah, exactly. I believe in Jassi bhai and myself," he concluded.
On his 1,113th delivery of the series, he nailed the yorker and rattled the timber to get India past the finishing line with a narrow six-run triumph, finishing with a sizzling five-for in the second innings and overall match figures 9/190.