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Siraj led India’s bowling attack in the absence of Bumrah at Edgbaston & The Oval and picked up 7 and 9 wickets, respectively, to seal memorable wins for the Shubman Gill-led side.

Mohammed Siraj explains why he performs better in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Mohammed Siraj played all five Test matches for India in the recently concluded five-match series against the English team and dismissed 23 batters. Siraj’s tally of 23 wickets in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy helped him equal Jasprit Bumrah’s record of taking the most wickets for India in a Test series played in England. In the fifth and final Test of the away series, Siraj picked up a total of nine wickets (four in the 1st and five in the 2nd) to help the Shubman Gill-led side successfully defend the total of 374 runs and secure a win by six runs. For his super show in the final match of the tour, Siraj won the Player of the Match award.
In the series against England, in the two Test matches Bumrah missed, Siraj dismissed a total of 16 batters. Siraj’s show with the ball in the absence of the world’s No. 1 Test bowler came as a surprise for many cricket fans.
The 31-year-old fast bowler from Hyderabad, in a recent interaction with RevSportz, opened up about his performances in England and said, “When I get an opportunity to shoulder responsibility, even if you look at a mundane series, my performance always grows.”
“Responsibility gives me a different kind of joy and boosts my confidence. I told you at Edgbaston that people are talking about me, and it’s time to make all that talk stop. I usually am very aware of what I’m doing and do not pay heed to what people are saying because people do not know my struggle. Despite that, I thought it was time to stop such talk because it was getting too much,” he added.
Siraj also opened up about his performances for Team India in the absence of Bumrah and said, “With Jassi Bhai (Jasprit Bumrah) not being there due to his back injury and his workload being managed, I tried my bit to keep the positivity in the bowling unit. Whenever I was talking to my teammates, Akash Deep and all, I was trying to spread the belief that we can do it. We can repeat what we have done already,” Siraj explained.
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