From his lows to his Match-turning fifer: How senior’s pep-talk helped Mohammed Siraj during The Oval Test

A single city, a distance of 5.2 miles separating two iconic grounds and 20 days is what it took for Mohammed Siraj’s life to come full circle in this back-breaking tour of England.

On July 14, Siraj helplessly witnessed a Shoaib Bashir delivery trickle down and disturb his stumps at Lord’s. He was on his haunches for the longest time as if Father Time had stopped for him. The usually cheerful man was perhaps devastated about letting Ravindra Jadeja’s superb fight go in vain and conceding a lead to England.

The ‘Warrior‘ in him deserved a closure and cut to August 4, it came once again with the familiar sound of timber, only this time, he was the one disturbing it to ensure that India ended 2-2, honours shared after a fightback for the ages.

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Gus Atkinson was the one in agony at the opposite end as he missed a fast and full delivery. Siraj, meanwhile, was flying, his cheeky humor intact.

Asked about his emotions after the final wicket, having gone through the heartbreak at Lord’s, Siraj was typically unfiltered.

“Actually DK bhai (Dinesh Karthik) started asking questions in English so at that point all emotions went away,” he said in his unassuming Hyderabadi Hindi and brought the house down.

Call it irony but when he was pushing his body to the limits with an 80-over old Dukes ball messing with both the minds and willows of the English batters, it was Jadeja, who had some peppy words for the 31-year-old workhorse.

“Jaddu bhai ne bola, ki apne father ke barein mein soch aur kitna takleef unhone uthaya aur tujhe unke liye yeh karna (win) hai. (Think about your late father and amount of hardships he faced. Do it for him),” Siraj said referring to the late anchor of his life.